HOSPITAL OF BRUMA

Hospital is the only town of the parish of Saint Lawrence of Bruma and the only part of the municipality of Mesía on the English Way.

It is situated in the middle of the plains of a plateau, somewhat solitary.  It is a town linked to the history of the road and that grew in parallel to it. This road link could come from Roman times, since a road would pass through here from the area of Santiago, dividing here into two; one that would go towards Brigantium (A Coruña) y the other towards Lucus Augusti (Lugo). Bruma lost its significance to the road when, in 1770, a new royal road was laid out, separated from this area and upon which the modern road from Santiago to Coruña would be constructed.

The name indicates that there was once a hospital or inn here to tend to the pilgrims and travellers, and there was for a long time as it is cited in a donation in 1175, it therefore existed before this. We know that the Austrian pilgrim Christoph Gunzinger went through here between 1654 and 1655, and he does so after arriving at Santiago and returning to go through El Salvador de Oviedo; Padre Sarmiento also speaks to us about this place that he calls “Gruma”, as it is called in the medieval documentation.