Fortress of Monterreal (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

The first records of a castle in Baiona date back to 60 BCE when Julius Caesar conquered the city as part of his expeditions in to Gaul. For the current fortress that sits on this small peninsula jutting out into bay, construction began in the 12th century and was completed in the 16th. 

As I approach Baiona along my Camino, the south eastern walls of the great fortress become visible. The city seems to have grown up around the fortress. Before exploring it though, I decide to get some lunch, get checked into my hotel, and take a shower. By the time I'm ready to go, a couple of my friends have arrived and decide to join me. 

We walk the short distance from our hotel to the main entrance to the fortress, which overlooks an extensive harbor with hundreds of boats docked, including a replica of Christopher Columbus' Pinta. The entrance looks like something out of a fairy tail with the tall turret towers defending the nearby landscape. We climb a number of steps and eventually end up on the wall that surrounds the entire fortress. It actually contains a very large area of around 45 acres. 

The fortress mostly serves as a tourist attraction in modern times and includes a hotel within it's walls. We join numerous other people as we walk the circumference of the installation. It really feels like we're part of history as we meander along these places that may have seen battle hundreds of years ago. Far below us, the ocean waves roll in the rocky shoreline, from which these fortress walls rise.

At one section, we come across a number of mock canons replicating their placement when this fortress defended the entrance to the Vigo River, still a major shipping lane. All in all, we probably spend about an hour walking around the grounds of the castle. It's time well spent, but having hiked many miles along the Camino before arriving, I think we're all ready to relax a bit now.