{"id":28121,"date":"2025-08-27T11:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T09:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/?post_type=parroquias&p=28121"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:49:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T11:49:28","slug":"o-allo","status":"publish","type":"parroquias","link":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/parrish\/o-allo\/","title":{"rendered":"O Allo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

O Allo is, without a doubt, the parish of greatest artistic and monumental interest<\/strong> in the whole concello of Zas, just as Brandomil was the one of greatest archaeological interest. In order to give enough time to appreciate all its value, we decided to publish the section for \u201cZas polo mi\u00fado\u201d in two parts<\/strong>, based on the summary set out above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This first part<\/strong> is therefore devoted to its geography, toponymy and, of course, to the history of the Torres do Allo, the monument for which it is known throughout Galicia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As regards its geography<\/strong>, we highlight that it is located in the northernmost part of the concello of Zas, its northwest corner being the most northerly point. It borders the parishes of Anos, Cesullas and Borneiro (in the concello of Cabana de Berganti\u00f1os) and San Cremenzo, Lamas and Baio (in that of Zas). Its area is around 7 km2<\/sup> and it is an annex parish of San Cremenzo de Pazos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its territory is mostly hilly, although in its southern part there are some level areas. At the bottom of the Esmor\u00eds river valley \u2013which belongs to the Anll\u00f3ns basin\u2013 we find the lowest altitude in the entire concello: 110 m. Along its southern edge runs the r\u00edo do Porto, the R\u00edo Grande of Terra de Soneira. In the approximately 4 km along which it flows on the boundary or within the parish, it accumulates a drop in elevation of around 10 m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geologically it forms part of the Malpica\u2013Tui Unit and, in lithological terms, it is the parish that shows the greatest uniformity in the whole concello, based on biotitic orthogneiss, schists and paragneiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to its place names<\/strong>, the etymological origin of the parish\u2019s own name, O Allo, is much debated, and up to four different proposals have been put forward. The other place names arose in the 17th century, from houses that the Rioboo family built for their tenant farmers. A Cebola was probably a \u201creplicating\u201d, playful toponym based on the already existing O Allo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Torres do Allo<\/strong> are considered \u201cthe first Galician pazo\u201d, and it had always been thought that they were built in their entirety at the end of the 15th\u2013beginning of the 16th century, since their layout \u2013a central rectangular body and two square towers on either side\u2013, as well as the decorative elements of the two towers, almost identical, were typical of that period. But everything changed with recent research by Professor J. \u00c1. S\u00e1nchez Garc\u00eda, who had access to the Rioboo archive and discovered that only the north tower dated from the original period, while the south tower was an almost identical copy built in the second half of the 17th century, almost 200 years later. Following the monograph by this researcher (Torres do Allo<\/em>, 2001), we drew up a chronological table with the most notable events of the successive lords of O Allo, especially those two who carried out the most important works (see the link).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We end the first part with a schematic table of the lords who owned them, the Rioboo family, from the 15th century until 1998, when the Deputaci\u00f3n da Coru\u00f1a bought the property and restored it. Guided tours and, above all, the dramatized visits organised by the Concello de Zas have increased visitor numbers as never before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second part we will talk about the church and other unique elements of this parish, the true \u201ccrown jewel\u201d of the concello, as well as about famous figures who lived there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This second part deals with aspects that remained pending from the first one, such as: the analysis of the parish church, the heraldry and other distinctive elements of the parish; notable figures connected with the parish; the childhood stay of the avant-garde poet Manuel Antonio; the disputes between the enlightened priest Antonio de Rioboo Seixas and Diego Cernadas de Castro \u2013priest of Fruime\u2013; the O Allo industrial estate, the parish festivities and the inventory of heritage assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parish church began to be built around 1561, when the lord of O Allo was G\u00f3mez Rioboo Villardefrancos o Vello (\u201cthe Elder\u201d). It has a Renaissance-style fa\u00e7ade-retable in the form of a triumphal arch divided into three panels, separated by columns, the central one being the widest and flanked by fluted-shaft columns. On either side are the figures of Adam and Eve. Above the door, seated in his chair, is Saint Peter. The iconography is completed by the archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. Above the south side door there is a bust of Saint Paul. It underwent works or refurbishments in 1644, 1702, 1741, 1892\/98, 1943, 1944, 1945\/49, 1985 and 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 6 coats of arms between the parish church and the Torres, bearing the arms of the families who held lordship over this \u201ccouto\u201d. A seventh coat of arms, formerly in Xerne, is now kept in the pazo de Daneiro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two distinctive elements help to enhance the importance of this parish: the new stone cross (cruceiro) in the churchyard, from 2013, and the new parish cemetery (2006), the latter with a design and materials that make it unique in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the abundance of water, it is not surprising that there are mills \u2013four of them already documented in 1753\u2013, mainly near the Casti\u00f1eira bridge and those on the Regueiro do Allo. The former are closely linked to the owners of the Torres, and the latter, also known as mu\u00ed\u00f1os de baruto<\/em>, which remained in operation until not many years ago, were a first-rate ethnographic feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What follows is the view of the parish left to us by historical texts from the years 1607, 1753, around 1847 and around 1928.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonio de Rioboo e Seixas is the author of numerous historical works, among which the following stands out: La Barca m\u00e1s prodigiosa. Poema historial sagrado de la antig\u00fcedad, invenci\u00f3n y milagros de el c\u00e9lebre Santuario de N. S. de la Barca, colocado en los confines del Puerto de Mug\u00eda en el Reyno de Galicia<\/em>. He went on to become a member of the Real Academia de la Historia. His famous war of words with Diego Cernadas de Castro is well known, from which arose the well-known gloss that begins \u201cAi do Allo, ai do Allo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key figure connected with the parish was the distinguished naturalist V\u00edctor L\u00f3pez Seoane, consort owner of the Torres through his marriage to Francisca de Rioboo. It is believed that he was the one who planted or ordered the planting of the oaks and sycamores that line the two access roads to the Torres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also worth noting that between 1901 and 1916 Pura S\u00e1nchez, mother of the avant-garde poet Manuel Antonio P\u00e9rez S\u00e1nchez, was the teacher at the school in O Allo; this poet maintained an intense friendship with other young contemporaries of his from Baio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O Allo has an industrial estate: \u201cOs Mu\u00ed\u00f1os\u201d, fully consolidated and in a phase of expansion, the only one in the concello of Zas. Among the companies located there, one standout is the vehicle inspection station (ITV), secured after not a few difficulties and strong social pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28122,"template":"","class_list":["post-28121","parroquias","type-parroquias","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/parroquias\/28121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/parroquias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/parroquias"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/parroquias\/28121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28123,"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/parroquias\/28121\/revisions\/28123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/concellodezas.gal\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}