| Castle of Saint George | |
|---|---|
Castelo de San Xurxo | |
| Carnota, A Coruña in Spain | |
 Ruins of Castle of Saint George | |
| Coordinates | 42°52′43″N9°07′58″W / 42.878723°N 9.132772°W |
The Castle of Saint George was a medieval fortress located in the granite massif of Mount Pindo, in Carnota.
The buildings stood for a good part of the Middle Ages, after being founded (or refounded) in the 10th century (at the time of the Western Towers) by the bishop Sisnando II, as part of his strategy of fortifying the Galician coast against the continuous Norman and Arab attacks and looting from the sea, [1] also defending at this point an important path to Santiago de Compostela, a coveted economic and religious center of the time. That is why it is considered one of the oldest stone castles of Galicia, and of the few that could never have been conquered, that is known.[ citation needed ]
The fortification was located on Pico Pedrullo, a steep cliff 300 meters (980 ft) high located on the coast of Carnota near the site of Quilmas , a spectacular natural geological formation with which they melted the walls of the fortress themselves, creating a complex that was very difficult to access. Consisting of several watchtowers and a tribute tower, it offered a fantastic perspective on the southern coast of the Costa da Morte allowing them to monitor the waters located between Cabo Touriñán and Cabo Corrubedo.[ citation needed ]
After passing alternately through the hands of the Crown, church and nobles of the time, and after featuring prominently in the Carnota Revolt , little by little this fortress lost importance as the centers of power settled in the area around Santiago de Compostela from the thirteenth century, until finally at the beginning of the fourteenth century the noble Lope Sánchez de Ulloa, who at that time held the castle's title, asked the Church for permission to demolish the fortification:[ citation needed ]
And you have knowledge that Lope Sanchez de Vlloa gave to Archbishop Don Rodrigo about dismantling the house of Saint George
Unlike the neighboring Peñafiel Castle, the castle must have already been destroyed at the time of the Irmandiño revolts, which is confirmed by the absence of any reference to this fortification in medieval documentation that is preserved about this event.[ citation needed ]
Over the centuries, the ruins of the castle became part of local legends and oral tradition, which placed among its rubble the treasures of the tomb of Queen Lupa. [2] [3] These legends caused that its remains were successively desecrated and removed in search of treasures and remains, causing that today the structures of the castle (which in the middle of the 20th century still stood several meters high) were reduced to an immense pile of rubble and the bases of some walls. Archaeological excavations have never been carried out on its remains.
Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra.
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The Iberian Peninsula, where Galicia is located, has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by Neanderthals and then by modern humans. From about 4500 BC, it was inhabited by a megalithic culture, which entered the Bronze Age about 1500 BC. These people would become the Gallaeci, and they would be conquered by the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries AD. As the Roman Empire declined, Galicia would be conquered and ruled by various Germanic tribes, notably the Suebi and Visigoths, until the 9th century. Then the Muslim conquest of Iberia reached Galicia, although they never quite controlled the area.
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded by the Suebic king Hermeric in 409, with its capital established in Braga. It was the first kingdom that officially adopted Catholicism. In 449, it minted its own currency. In 585, it became a part of the Visigothic Kingdom. In the 8th century, Galicia became a part of the newly founded Christian Kingdom of Asturias, which later became the Kingdom of León, while occasionally achieving independence under the authority of its own kings. Compostela became the capital of Galicia in the 11th century, while the independence of Portugal (1128) determined its southern boundary. The accession of Castilian King Ferdinand III to the Leonese kingdom in 1230 brought Galicia under the control of the Crown of Castile.
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Palas de Rei is a town in the province of Lugo, Galicia in northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of A Ulloa.
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Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, was a Galician noble and a member of the House of Castro. He was the son of Esteban Fernández de Castro, Lord of Lemos and Sarria, and Aldonza Rodríguez de León. His paternal grandparents were Fernando Gutiérrez de Castro and Emilia Iniguez de Mendoza. His maternal grandparents were Rodrigo Alfonso de León, son of Alfonso IX of León, and Ines Rodríguez Cabrera.
Mount Pindo is a mountain located in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It is in the municipality of Carnota and province of A Coruna. Composed of granite, it has a height of 627m. It is of local mythological importance.
Libredón was a forest, sometimes also described as a mountain, near Santiago de Compostela that according to legend, is where the body of Saint James was laid to rest. There is a belief that the forest was located at the Oak grove of Santa Susana, a hill in Santiago de Compostela that is part of the Parque da Alameda de Santiago de Compostela.
Queen Lupa is a character from Galician mythology. She is mentioned in both the Codex Calixtinus and the Golden Legend involving the translation of the body of the Apostle James by his disciples. Her name alludes to her cunning, and she is written as being a roadblock to the disciples of the Apostle James, Theodore and Athanasius, as they search for a place to entomb his body. She eventually sees her error and converts to Christianity.
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Manuel Gago Mariño is a Galician journalist and scholar.
