36685 Oca- A Estrada. Pontevedra.
A fortress from the XIII Century, the Pazo de Oca was transformed into the ancestral home that we know today between the XVIII and XIX Centuries when the chapel, granary and square were added to the original house, and the surrounding vegetable gardens were transformed into a purely barroque garden, with its paths, ponds and statues.
Because of its privileged climate, indigenous trees like chestnuts, birches, oaks and walnuts grow alongside other more exotic species like magnolia, cryptomeria (japanese red cedar) or camelia. The long walk flanked by centenary common box or the promenade of lindens make the whole a sample of what life was in these palaces, a mixture of work and play.
But water is the fundamental element, playing a functional and decorative role at the same time. Coming from two streams, it flows around the estate in chanels, one of which flows into the meadow, while the other one leads to the two ponds, with their stone ships so representative of the Oca, linked by a bridge with vines and surrounded by a balustrade of grey granite.
According to the Duque of Segorbe, in charge of the maintenance of the garden: The ship of the lower pond represents a war ship with sailors and cannons. The ship of the upper pond is one with merchants, with sweet orange trees representing paradise.
