Las Catedrales beach, Galicia, Spain (© Davide Seddio/Getty Images)

Las Catedrales beach, Galicia, Spain (© Davide Seddio/Getty Images)

The mystery of As Catredrais

The beach of As Catedrais (The Cathedrals) we show you in our picture is one of the most beautiful and mysterious in northern Spain. It’s on the Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago), very close from Galician town of Ribadeo, and its real name is Aguas Santas beach (Holy Waters). Everybody calls it The Cathedrals because of the arches growing from the sand tongue, which look like the buttresses of a Catholic church. They’re supposed to be natural carved by the action of salty water and wind over millions of years. And the most superstitious locals belive there’s a door in this place connecting with the beyond.

However, all these theories and legends could collapse like a house of cards If it was not the sea, but the man, who carved the rock long time ago. Or at least, if both, men and nature, worked together to form this landscape. A group of expert geologists maintain from some years now these arches and caves are not natural but the remains of an ancient Roman gold mine. They refer to archaeological studies confirming the presence of this civilization in the area looking for gold, and believe certain capricious forms of the stone suggest the action of men rather than nature or spirits.