This is the unknown Galician castle that everyone wants to visit

A castle that until now was unknown as such is now the Galician castle that everyone wants to visit. Is about Castro Valentea fortified town of the iron agewhat thanks to the work of two archaeologists, it has been discovered that it is actually a gigantic early medieval fortresswhich had 30 towers, a wall of more than a kilometer and an area of ​​almost 10 hectares.

The Galician castle that everyone wants to visit

Mario Fernandez-Pereiro and Jose Carlos Sanchez-Pardoarchaeologists from the research group Sincrisis, from the University of Santiago de Compostelahave been responsible for the fact that Castro Valente, to date identified as a town from the Iron Age, is actually a fortress whose remains are very deteriorated.

The unknown castle to date It is at a time shared by the municipalities of Padrón (A Coruña) and A Estrada (Pontevedra)it deteriorated due to reforestation and the creation of firebreaks.

The discovery, which is explained in the study Looking for an early medieval castle among the vegetationwas made as a result of flight of a drone that used a laser light technique which served archaeologists to observe in detail the extension and layout of the Castro Valente wall.

From the analyzes carried out, it has been discovered that the area that is best preserved is the northwestern part, since the acacia vegetation “covers the layout of the walled enclosure”.

The fact that locals designate the mount as A Cerca (The Fence) made investigators suspicious about the presence of a possible wall and the existence of a large enclosure, which, according to experts, would not go unnoticed by the peasant communities that lived nearby.

Since the area is barely preserved, it is difficult for archaeologists to identify the doors of the enclosure, although due to the evidence of the layout it has been possible to find out which was the main access and that in addition, there was two more doors although minor. One of these accesses is surrounded by vegetation, while the other is in an area badly affected by a fire road and it seems that it had a possible tower.

The interior of the unknown castle

As for the inside the castlearchaeologists conclude that it has been difficult to find “architectural evidence” given the state in which it is, although they are inclined towards stone materials or also the combination of various elements. On the other hand, elevations are identified that could correspond to “wall structures”although it is only a hypothesis and a deep dig should be done to reach a more evident conclusion.

In addition, experts have pointed out the events that would have diminished the state of the fortress over time, such as the placement of four wind turbines and a substation on the northwestern and southern slopes of the mountain where the deposit is located. Besides, the placement of six towers belonging to the Lousame-Tibo 220 kW double-circuit electric power transmission overhead line project and located on the northwest, west and south slopes of the Castro Valente hill.

to all of it natural erosion is added, the historical reuse of construction materials and that the necessary care is also lacking on the part of the administrations and the local community.