Vivero

Vivero, called Viveiro in Galician, lies at the estuary of the Landro on Galicia's northern coast. The town took shape in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries under the lordship of the bishops of Mondoñedo. After a long dispute with the bishops, Alfonso XI granted it royal-town status in 1346, while the bishops retained a levy on goods loaded and unloaded in the port.

In the early modern period, flax growing, linen manufacture and vineyards accompanied maritime trade. The port's commerce reached a high point in the sixteenth century, serving shallow-draught vessels and offering repair facilities. During the Peninsular War French troops occupied the town in 1809, and a local rising briefly challenged them.