Castro de Santa Trega (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

 

Today is a rest day from our Camino de Santiago trek, and with nothing specific planned for the day, I'm going to make my way up to another ancient village on the nearby Monte Santa Trega. This one is not quite as old, but still dates back to around the turn of millennia, when Rome's influence was starting to change day-to-day life in this region. Several of my new friends have asked to join me and we order a cab to carry us up the steep hill to the site.

Where Castro de Sao Lourenco, some forty or fifty miles south of here was a relatively small village, Castro de Santa Trego is considerably larger. When we arrive, we are let out at the visitor's center, which includes a larger museum, a café, a hotel, and several vendors peddling their souvenirs. I'm a little caught off guard to see how many female sex toys are hanging on display here and have been turned into bottle openers. One of my friends who travels the world extensively, says that this has been a trend everywhere for a while now. 

We spend some time in the museum admiring the extensive collection of artifacts that have been recovered here. This includes coins, weapons, farming utensils, and just normal household hardware all from the time of inhabitation. Information panels and other exhibits explain the geo-political environment present here at the time. We use Google Translate's camera feature (which is mind-blowing in it's ability) to read the panels.

After quick snack, we decide to start walking down towards the ruins of the village. However, in addition to the ancient village's ruins atop this mountain, there are also numerous ancient Christian statues and monuments. Some of this dates as far back as the 12th century, while other examples are from the 16th and 17th centuries. It's really interesting to see this clash of eras. In some cases, the Christian construction was done right over the more ancient buildings, while in others, it seems to have been built alongside the ruins showing respect. 

We begin by climbing up to the taller of the two peaks. I'm sure there would be a fantastic view from here were it not for all of the fog. As it stands, we're not able to see much in the distance. That said though there are still interesting things up here, including a stone cross and a few weathered inscriptions. 

From here, we begin the walk down the mountain towards the saddle where the village sits. Numerous elaborate stone crosses and other stone Christian-era constructions line the walkway. We stop and try to read some of the inscriptions. It seems many are just monuments to individuals, but there sure are a lot of them.

Finally arriving at the ancient village itself, I'm kind of in awe of just how many circular houses are packed into the main area. There has to be about fifty or sixty of them here. We've seen others all around the mountain as we've explored, but nothing as densely packed as this main section. One house on the outskirts has been reconstructed to illustrate how it must have looked two thousand years ago. Honestly, this doesn't seem to have been a bad life. This houses would have provided ample shelter and while I'm sure they weren't as comfortable as our modern homes, I could have probably made do with something like this. 

After walking around the site a bit more, we decide to head down the mountain. We considered getting a cab, but in the end, just decided to walk. It's only a couple of miles after all and our legs are used to much more than that already.