6. The artisan trades of the castle

In the fort's old residential buildings you can visit the "Live Crafts Festival," an exhibition open year-round that shows the production of linen and lace, and other crafts of the region such as model ships , glasswork, clog fabrication, leather works, basketry and the pottery of Buño. In the summer months, July and August, the artisans are present every day.

This demonstration, a fusion between a museum exhibit and a showcase of craftsmanship, is a collaboration begun in 1994 between the City Council of Vimianzo and the Provincial Council of A Coruña in order to keep the artisan tradition of the region alive in a building that is now the leading tourist and heritage site of the Costa da Morte.

Among the more popular trades we find the Pottery of Buño and bobbin lace work from Muxía, Camariñas, and Vimianzo. By contrast, the long tradition of palilleiras from the municipality of Vimianzo, from the area of Nemancos in particular, is scarcely known. Hence the name of the association of lace-makers "The Nemenquiñas," which brings together local women known to use cotton yarn and linen in their designs, with a wide variety of products and a very delicate, highly complex type of lacing, known as "La Simona."

This technique, initially created by two residents of Vimianzo, caught the eye of a lace merchant. O Poulan commissioned a highly skilled woman, A Simona, to develop this new lace which is now also used by the lace-makers of Camariñas and Muxía.