Monumento á Mariña Universal
Facts and practical information
The Monument to the Universal Navy or Monument to the Martyrs of the Sea is a monument located in the Pontevedra town of Nigrán, in the parish of Panjón, built in 1924, on top of Monteferro. The monument was designed by the architect Manuel Gómez Román from Vigo.
It is a large granite monolith 25 meters high with four bronze crowns and a sculpture of the Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of sailors, with a baby Jesus in her arms. The sculpture is the work of the Malaga sculptor Enrique Marín Higuero.
This monument was erected in honour of those who died at sea, during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, who laid the first stone. It was finished in 1928.
The monument was refurbished in 2005 with new facilities for leisure and family recreation, as well as with the extension of parking areas for coaches for hikers. The monument is the subject of much criticism for being erected in a natural area. In 2008 was paralyzed the expansion of its access roads by the pressure exerted by opponents neighbors and groups of people from Vigo and region that call for the inclusion of Monteferro in the National Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia.
Galicia
Galicia