What you can see on the Ourense webcams
Two cameras of Galicia's public broadcaster cover the city. A moving one beside the river turns between the Roman bridge, the Millennium footbridge, the riverside parks and the city; a fixed one on the seminary, above the town, shows the whole of Ourense in its valley. A 24-hour time-lapse of the river camera follows them.
Ourense's bridges over the Miño
This moving camera is on the Ponte Vella shopping centre, beside the river, and it turns between the Miño's bridges. One view frames the old bridge itself, its tall central arch and buttressed piers reflected in the water: built on Roman foundations and rebuilt in the 13th century, it now carries only people on foot. Others look across to the apartment blocks of the city, along the riverside promenade and its park, and to the Ponte do Milenio, the footbridge whose walkway loops up above its deck.
Hot springs rise along this stretch of the Miño, feeding open-air thermal pools on the riverbanks, so the camera is a handy way to check the weather before going for a soak.
Ourense in its valley
The second camera, fixed, is on the seminary on a hill above the city and gives the big picture: Ourense filling the floor of the Miño valley, a mass of red roofs and pale blocks, with suburbs climbing the slopes opposite and wooded mountains closing the horizon. The broadcaster notes that the Millennium footbridge and the old bridge can be picked out across the river.
Ourense lies low and sheltered, and in summer it is one of the hottest cities in Galicia. This view shows the haze of a hot afternoon, the fog that settles in the valley on winter mornings and the clouds that build over the hills.
Hot springs and a Roman bridge
Ourense has one of the largest volumes of thermal water of any city in Europe, and it was a founding member of the European association of historic thermal towns in 2009. In the old town, As Burgas springs pour hot water into a public pool beside the remains of a Roman bath. Along the Miño there are open-air pools at places like A Chavasqueira and Outariz, some free and some with an entrance fee, where you can soak in the open air with the river beside you. The old bridge, the Ponte Vella, rests on Roman foundations and was rebuilt in 1230; it now carries only people on foot. The cathedral, founded in the 6th century and rebuilt in the 13th, has a carved doorway modelled on the Pórtico da Gloria in Santiago.
When to watch Ourense
Ourense is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. Sheltered in its valley, it is one of the hottest cities in Galicia in summer, when afternoons can pass 40 °C (104 °F); in winter, fog often fills the valley in the morning. Winter evenings, with steam rising from the pools, are the classic time for the hot springs.
Around Ourense
The canyons and terraced vineyards of the Ribeira Sacra begin about 28 miles (46 km) north-east. Allariz, a small medieval town on a river, is about 15 miles (24 km) to the south-east.
Getting to Ourense
Santiago de Compostela airport is about 75 miles (121 km) away. Ourense is on the high-speed line between Madrid and Galicia, with fast trains to Santiago and A Coruña.
