Cabo Ortegal Geopark
Details
The geographical scope of the Cabo Ortegal Geopark is defined by the limits of the A Coruña municipalities of Cariño, Cedeira, Cerdido, Moeche, San Sadurniño, Ortigueira and Valdoviño. They are around 799 km² of surface (632 land and 167 coastal sea front) which, to a large extent, are part of the so-called Cape Ortegal Geological Complex, widely studied by specialized science since the mid-20th century.
The peculiarity of this area lies in the fact that here, on the surface, there are rocks that are normally found in the Earth’s mantle, more than 70 kilometers deep. In Ortegal, geological science has a great field to investigate and expand its knowledge about the changes and moments experienced by the Earth over millions of years.
The geological, the natural and landscape heritage, the tangible and intangible cultural heritage – buildings, traditions, gastronomy, etc. – are closely linked within the Geopark, since despite taking geology as a starting point, the goal is to achieve sustainable development in the territory where all these aspects are related and coordinated under the umbrella of the Cabo Ortegal Geopark.