The Torre do Castro of Sandiás: history, visits and activities

The Torre do Castro is the medieval fortress of Sandiás, one of the castles that defended the Alta Limia and the Lagoa de Antela, along with those of A Pena, A Forxa and Celme. After consolidation works, the Concello uses its surroundings for cultural and educational activities. This page first tells its history and then the visits and events that appear in the sources consulted; the legends are in Lendas da Torre de Sandiás and the context of the towers in Idade Media e torres.

History of the castle

The castle was probably built in the first half of the 12th century on an old hill-fort, in the struggles between Alfonso VII and Afonso Henriques of Portugal over the county of A Limia ^[3][4]. It controlled the roads and goods that crossed the Alta Limia ^[5]. According to the Galipedia, the Duke of Lancaster attacked it in 1386, but Fronteira Esquecida records that visit only as the opinion of some researchers ^[3][4].

In the 15th century it belonged to the Count of Benavente, Alonso Pimentel. In 1467, in the second Irmandiño revolt, Alonso de Paredes’s men tore it down and burned it with the help of a servant of the besieged; it was afterwards rebuilt ^[3][4]. In the wars with Portugal in the 17th and 18th centuries it served as a meeting point for the troops going to the border ^[3].

The tower today

Part of the keep survives, which had a basement, three floors and a terrace ^[4]. It stands on the hill that overlooks the village of Sandiás, near where the Lagoa de Antela used to spread, and after the consolidation the 2024 guided visit announced as novelties the pottery, the internal loopholes, the inner staircase and the wall-walk ^[1]. The basic bibliography is the work of Xesús Taboada Chivite and Ramón Boga Moscoso on the medieval castles of Galicia ^[3].

According to the Galicia Máxica blog, the tower, which appears on the coat of arms of Sandiás, was the target of vandalism in the surroundings (Vía Lethes reported graffiti on 12 February 2019); the Dirección Xeral de Patrimonio Cultural planned to draft the conditioning and consolidation project and then carry out the approved work ^[6].

1st guided visit to the military heritage (27 July 2024)

As part of «Cultura no Verán», the Concello de Sandiás organised on Saturday 27 July 2024 the 1st Guided Visit to the Military Heritage of Medieval Architecture: the Torre do Castro in the context of the Towers of the A Limia Region. It was led by Jorge Abraham Vila, a teacher at the IES Cidade de Antioquia in Xinzo de Limia, former collaborating lecturer at the University of Vigo and researcher of the towers and castles of A Limia. In previous years there were visits to the Pazo do Telleyro and to the geological heritage of the sand pits (areeiras) of Sandiás ^[1].

There were two sessions, both free of charge and with registration at the Concello: a talk at the Interpretation Centre of the Lagoa de Antela (11:00–12:00) and an in situ visit to the tower (12:30–13:30) ^[1].

The programme announced, among other topics ^[1]:

• the role of the fortresses and castles of the Alta Limia;
• unpublished objects and places in the tower after consolidation: pottery, internal loopholes, inner staircase, wall-walk or patrol path;
• medieval documents that mention it and hypotheses about its origin and demolition;
• the role of the Irmandiño revolts and the siege of the Duke of Lancaster;
• the holdings of the lay nobility (Nóvoa, Pimentel, Osorio…).

TOR concert (18 August 2023)

The Concello organised a night of music beside the tower with the group TOR (Celtic folk from Galiza), on Friday 18 August 2023 at 21:00. Their pieces, led by gaita, wooden flute and diatonic accordion, with bouzouki and double bass, follow a style typical of regions such as A Limia: muiñeiras, jotas, alboradas, pasacorredoiras, piruxaldas, alalás, carols of the Magi, waltzes and mazurkas ^[2].

Félix Castro and Castor Castro, two of the members, research the wooden flute and the diatonic accordion in Galicia and recover the repertoire of the Ourense bagpipers, especially Faustino Santalices. Their publications include the «Catálogo de músicos da Limia. Música tradicional» and the book-CD «Os sons da Limia». The group is completed by Xosé Liz (bouzouki, guitar, mandolin) and Álvaro Iglesias (double bass) ^[2].

Links

• Patrimonio da Limia
• Sandiás
• Prehistoria e castros
• Lendas da Torre de Sandiás

Sources

1. «I visita guiada á Torre do Castro organizada polo Concello de Sandiás», Vía Lethes. https://vialethes.es/i-visita-guiada-torre-do-castro-concello-de-sandias
2. «Concerto do grupo folk céltico TOR na Torre do Castro (Sandiás)», Vía Lethes. https://vialethes.es/concerto-folk-celtico-tor-torre-castro-sandias
3. Fronteira Esquecida, «Tower of Sandiás (Castro Tower)». https://fronteiraesquecida.eu/en/fichas/tower-of-sandias-castro-tower/
4. «Castelo de Sandiás», Galipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castelo_de_Sandiás
5. Concello de Sandiás, «Coñece Sandiás». https://www.sandias.es/conece-sandias/
6. Blog de Galicia Máxica, «Buenas noticias para la Torre de Sandiás». https://blog.galiciamaxica.eu/buenas-noticias-para-la-torre-de-sandias/