A town of the Ribeiro district (Ourense), at the confluence of the Avia and the Miño, whose name means 'bank of the Avia'. It grew in the Middle Ages through the wine trade and a notable Jewish quarter; in 1164 Ferdinand II granted it a fuero (charter).
16th century (1579), with trade documented since the late Middle AgesThe Ordinances of 1579: Ribadavia lays down rules for its wine
During the late Middle Ages Ribeiro wine left Ribadavia by mule and boat for the ports of Pontevedra, Vigo or Baiona, and from there to Flanders, Brittany and above all England, to the point that in some markets it was simply called ‘ribadavia’. Tradition credits the town's Jewish community with much of this trade. Such success brought fraud: wines from other lands were sold as if they were Ribeiro. To stop it, in 1579 the town council of Ribadavia approved municipal ordinances that laid down which parishes could produce and sell the wine, which treatments were allowed and what penalties awaited offenders; today they are presented as a forerunner of the denominations of origin.
Alive today: Ribadavia is the capital of the DO Ribeiro, protected since the Wine Statute of 1932. Every spring it hosts the Feira do Viño do Ribeiro (63rd edition in 2026, opened by the Xunta on 1 May), regarded as the longest-running wine fair in Galicia. Bodegas such as the Viña Costeira cooperative and Casal de Armán operate in the municipality.