A territory of great scenic beauty
The spectacular canyons and river valleys sustain and single out the waterscape of the Ribeira Sacra. The deep, spectacular and successive loops are its emblem.
Attributes
Dense and varied hydraulic heritage
An immense repertoire of works that harness the power of water, from humble drinking fountains and innumerable traditional watermills to the engineering works of 20th-century hydroelectric dams.
Epic work of human colonisation
The survival of traditional farming systems on the steep slopes of river canyons supported by ancient techniques.
The hermit and monastic footprint
The hermit and monastic presence shaped much of the distinctive and functional traits of the cultural waterscape.
Ancestral ways of occupying territory
A landscape of thousands of tiny plots generated by ancestral formulas of land ownership and management, adapted to an abrupt territory.
Intangible heritage associated with water
The unique biocultural capital of a living cultural landscape and the intangible heritage associated with the culture of water.