The Monument to the Universal Marina is located atop the Monteferro peninsula in Nigrán, and it's a great spot to visit in the Rias Baixas if you find yourself near Vigo.

This impressive monolith, standing at 25 meters tall and built of granite, features four bronze crowns, symbolizing each of the navies, along with a sculpture of the Virgin of Carmen holding the child Jesus, the patron saint of sailors. Its design could be said to be a mix of a pyramid, a pantheon, and a lighthouse, with its hollow interior resembling a chimney.

It was proposed by Arthur Nigthingale, the British consul in Vigo, shortly after the end of World War I in November 1918 in memory of the Spanish merchant mariners lost during the war.

The projection of the monument was entrusted to the Galician architect Manuel Gómez Román. The sculpture of the Virgin of Carmen is the work of the Malaga sculptor Enrique Marin Higuero, also the author of the five statues crowning the building of the Pastor Bank in Vigo on Policarpo Sanz Street, also designed by Gómez Román.

The construction was financed through a popular subscription, with contributions from the navies of the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Spain, Italy, and France. Miguel Primo de Rivera laid the first stone in 1924, and the official inauguration took place in 1928.

The monument is located in a special conservation area that includes this cape and islands in the municipality of Nigrán. This natural space is part of the European project Natura 2000 Network. From this point, you can take various hiking trails, all of them fantastic.

If you visit this monument, we leave you several nearby options that you can also visit without having to move the car:

- Merendero de Monteferro

- Viewpoint of Monteferro

- Military battery J-3 Monteferro

- Lighthouse of Punta Lameda

- Rose of the Winds