The castle and oak grove of A Saínza

The castle of A Saínza and the oak grove (carballeira) around it are the setting of the Romaría da Saínza. There the Moorish side defends the fortress, and there the pilgrims eat in the shade of the oaks. Both have official protection: the castle is an Asset of Cultural Interest (Bien de Interés Cultural, BIC), and the Carballa da Rocha is a natural monument. This page describes them. What happens at the festival is told on the pages about Moors and Christians and Our Lady of Mercy.

The castle of A Saínza, an Asset of Cultural Interest

The catalogue of the Xunta’s Basic Regional Plan (Plan Básico Autonómico) lists the Castelo da Saínza among the Assets of Cultural Interest, with a generic-type declaration and artistic interest. It carries the code BIC.000.525 and the date 1994 ^[1]. Wikipedia’s list of monuments gives it the national identifier RI-51-0008957 ^[2]. It stands at A Saínza, in the parish of San Xoán de Rairiz de Veiga, next to the festival field ^[1].

Doval Adán described the building as a «pequeño castillo» (small castle) ^[13]. Wikipedia illustrates the parish with a photograph titled «Torre da Saínza» ^[9]. In 1929 Jaime Solá spoke of a «pétreo baluarte» (stone bulwark) with a terrace and battlements. The Christian prisoners stood on the terrace, and in front of the door there was a stair that the Christian captain climbed ^[4]. In front of the castle, about fifteen metres away, were already then the two rocks from which the captains speak ^[4].

The oak grove and the Carballa da Rocha

The pilgrimage is held in a field shaded by old oaks ^[13]. The most famous is the Carballa da Rocha, in A Saínza de Abaixo. The Xunta declared it a natural monument on 1 March 2007, together with six adjoining plots totalling 0.6429 ha ^[5]. On 17 April that year it also entered the Galician Catalogue of Outstanding Trees (Catálogo Galego de Árbores Senlleiras) ^[6]. In November 2024 it became the fifth natural monument in Galicia with a conservation plan ^[6].

The trunk forks at about 7 metres high into two large limbs reaching 33 metres ^[5][6]. Vía Lethes presents it as the tallest oak in Spain ^[6]. Delfín Caseiro recorded that in a pruning in the 1950s two men worked for two days and took away more than twenty cartloads of firewood ^[6].

The official perimeter, measured at 1.30 m above the ground, is 6.90 m ^[7]. Its age is estimated at several centuries: estimates range from three to five centuries ^[5][6]. Its shade has hosted the pilgrimage meals for generations ^[6].

The landscape of the old lagoon

The oak grove is what remains of the great oak woods that lay along the shore of the Lagoa de Antela ^[5][6]. The Veigas da Saínza, Ordes and Congostro form a Site of Community Importance. It is a waterlogged valley of about 1,500 ha, included in the Natura 2000 network and in the core zone of the Área de Allariz Biosphere Reserve ^[8]. For the town council, it is one of the few places in A Limia that preserves the landscape of the lagoon’s days ^[8].

Other heritage at A Saínza

Around the field there are other items listed in the municipal plan (PXOM): the peto de ánimas (souls’ shrine) and the communal oven of A Saínza de Abaixo ^[10]. Galicia Nomeada records the place names «O Campo da Festa da Saínza» and «Cruceiro da Saínza» ^[11]. The same field hosts the A Saínza Fair, on the 23rd of every month ^[12]. To learn about the rest of the parish, see the page on Rairiz de Veiga.

Sources

1. Xunta de Galicia, Plan Básico Autonómico, BIC catalogue: «Castelo da Saínza» (BIC.000.525). https://ideg.xunta.gal/servizos/rest/services/PBA/Afeccions_PatrimonioCultural/MapServer
2. Wikipedia (gl), «Lista de monumentos da provincia de Ourense», CC BY-SA 4.0. https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_de_monumentos_da_provincia_de_Ourense
3. Páxinas Galegas, «Romería da Saínza e Nosa Señora da Mercé». https://www.paxinasgalegas.es/fiestas/romeria-da-sainza-e-nosa-señora-da-merce-rairiz-de-veiga-574.html
4. Alexander de los Ríos Conde, «La romería de A Saínza en un reportaje de 1929 (Segunda Parte)», Vía Lethes, 02-10-2016 (reproduces Jaime Solá, Vida Gallega, no. 431, 20-11-1929). https://vialethes.es/romeria-sainza-1929-ii
5. Wikipedia (gl), «Carballa da Rocha», CC BY-SA 4.0 (cites Decree 45/2007, DOG no. 59, and Decree 67/2007, DOG no. 74). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carballa_da_Rocha
6. Alexander de los Ríos Conde, «A Carballa da Rocha: el roble más alto de España», Vía Lethes, 02-04-2017 (upd. 02-04-2025). https://vialethes.es/carballa-rocha-roble-mas-alto
7. Wikipedia (es), «Rairiz de Veiga», CC BY-SA 4.0. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rairiz_de_Veiga
8. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, «Reserva da Biosfera: As Veigas». https://rairizdeveiga.es/gl/concello/reserva-Biosfera
9. Wikipedia (gl), «Rairiz de Veiga, Rairiz de Veiga», CC BY-SA 4.0. https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rairiz_de_Veiga,_Rairiz_de_Veiga
10. Xunta de Galicia, PXOM de Rairiz de Veiga, heritage catalogue: «Peto de Ánimas da Sainza de Abaixo» (E-012) and «Forno comunal de Sainza de Abaixo» (A-024). http://www.planeamentourbanistico.xunta.es/siotuga/documentos/urbanismo/RAIRIZDEVEIGA/documents/27187ca020.pdf
11. Galicia Nomeada (Xunta de Galicia / RAG), «O Campo da Festa da Saínza» and «Cruceiro da Saínza». https://galicianomeada.xunta.gal/sixtop/toponimos/fichapublica/38274000166302 · https://galicianomeada.xunta.gal/sixtop/toponimos/fichapublica/38274000166305
12. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, «Feiras e festas». https://rairizdeveiga.es/gl/feiras-festas
13. Antonio Doval Adán, «Rairiz de Veiga», in Galicia pueblo a pueblo (dir. Andrés Precedo Ledo), pp. 1167–1168. Digital copy en Minerva (USC). https://minerva.usc.gal/bitstreams/f7db627e-8867-4e17-b14c-f908758002ab/download