LUGO, the capital of the above province, is situated in N. Lat. 43. 5., W. Long. 7. 57., on a small hill near the River Miño, about 2118 feet above the level of the sea, 50 miles S.E. from Coruña, and 294 N.W. from Madrid, on the highway between these two cities. Lugo was at one time a city of great importance. Its name is supposed to be connected with its ancient destination as the site of a grove temple. It was the headquarters of the Roman occupation of the region, and was known as Lucense, or Lucus Augusti. They surrounded the city with a lofty and massive wall, most of which is still standing, and constitutes one of the most remarkable Roman monuments in Spain. It is supported at intervals by strong semicircular towers, which numbered eighty-five previous to the repairs in 1809. It serves at present as a promenade, commanding an extensive and delightful prospect. Lugo suffered greatly in the fifth century during the Moorish wars, and more recently in the war of independence, lying so much in the way of the combatants. The town consists of about 700 houses; it is not compactly built, a good deal of space being taken up with gardens and orchards. The principal public places are,—the Plaza Mayor, a spacious square with porticos on one side; the Plaza de Santo Domingo; the Plaza del Hospital, where reviews are held; and the Campo de San Roque, a place of much resort, where fairs and markets are held.
The most remarkable of the public buildings is the cathedral, situated south of the city, the primitive construction of which dates from the twelfth century, though it has been restored and repaired at various periods, and is still, in some parts, unfinished. The bell-tower and peal of bells, and the carving of the choir, by the famous Galician artist of the sixteenth century, Alonzo Moure, are remarkable. The episcopal palace, the civil hospital, the prison, and the barrack, are the remaining buildings of note. The educational institutions are,—a normal school in the ex-convent of the Dominicans, and a recently established college (Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza), which also contains a school of design, museum of natural history, and botanic garden. Attached to this institution is a library of about 7000 volumes, formed of the episcopal library and the books of the suppressed convents. About a mile south of the town, on the left bank of the Miño, are the famous baths of Lugo,—a thermal spring, of sulphurous ingredients, over which in 1847 was erected by the government an excellent and capacious bathing-house. The remains of Roman baths are found here, and the massive wall which they built to defend their erection from the inundations of the Miño still exists almost entire. These baths are resorted to on account of their beneficial influence in paralytic and syphilitic disorders. Pop. (1847) 7269.