Logbook · 9 places

Torres do Oeste

Catoira, Caldas, Pontevedra

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 3 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

Spain › Galicia › Pontevedra › Caldas › Catoira › Torres do Oeste

Torres do Oeste

Monument · Catoira, Caldas, Pontevedra

The remains of a fortress also known as Castellum Honesti, located in the parish of Santa Baia de Oeste, in Catoira, at the mouth of the río Ulla, at the head of the ría de Arousa. Of pre-Roman and Roman origin, it became between the ninth and twelfth centuries the region's main defensive stronghold against the Norman and Saracen raids that sought to reach Santiago de Compostela by sailing up the Ulla; Diego Xelmírez strengthened it in the twelfth century. Of the original enclosure, which had seven towers, two of pre-Romanesque construction survive today, along with the foundations of another, a stretch of wall and a twelfth-century Romanesque chapel dedicated to the apostle Santiago. It was declared a monumento histórico-artístico (former Spanish heritage-protection category, predecessor of the Bien de Interés Cultural) in 1931; since 1961 it has hosted the Romería Vikinga de Catoira.

Photo: Jose Antonio Gil Martínez. FREECAT from Vigo (CC BY 2.0)

What to see and do in Catoira