Castro de Santa Trega

The Castro de Santa Trega lies at an altitude of 341 m on Mount Santa Trega in A Guarda, above the mouth of the Miño. Most of the settlement’s buildings date from around the turn of the era, from the first century BC to the first century AD; it is estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 people lived here. Typical are small free-standing stone houses with a round or oval plan built on the bedrock, many with a small entrance foyer; some have been reconstructed. Most of the settlement is still buried, and systematic excavation has taken place since 1983, mainly in the northern part.

The former summit restaurant, designed by Antonio Palacios, now houses the museum. From the viewpoint a 360-degree panorama stretches over the Baixo Miño and northern Portugal; the island of A Ínsua lies off the river mouth. A narrow but comfortable road leads to the top; on foot, a Way of the Cross climbs the hill, and the Santa Trega hermitage dates from the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.