Balneario De Cortegada

On the banks of the Miño River in Cortegada, in Spain's Ourense province of Galicia, these thermal waters are recorded as far back as the late 15th century in the archives of Celanova monastery. Two historic springs, the Baño do Campo and the Baño da Pedra, were already in use by the 18th century, and in 1816 King Fernando VII granted the bathhouse official recognition, turning it into a fashionable retreat for the era's elite.

The modernist building seen today dates to 1937, raised after a river flood destroyed the earlier early-20th-century structure. In 2015, rising water levels caused by the Frieira reservoir led to a new spa being inaugurated nearby, close to the O Coto da Pena viewpoint, continuing a bathing tradition that spans more than five centuries.