in Ourense

 Introduction. The Celts myth What are Castros? Most important Castros in Ourense Santom San Cibrn de Ls Castro de Arme Castromao The evolution of castros (link) Photographs of other castros

Welcome to the mysterious world of the legacy of Celtic culture in the province of Ourense. In this space you can make a first approach to some of the most important settlements where we actually know that Celtic culture had an influence, especially to those closer to Ourense city. These settlements are called castros, and their importance is related to the findings made in archaeological excavations that show us the few things that we know about the people who came to Galicia (Celts) and was mixed with the native people (Iberians) before the Romans arrived. But first, we should have an idea of what we are talking about. The Celts - far from the romantic vision of the tall, blonde, blue-eyed people who lived close to the spirits of nature and had a warlike character - were a set of different peoples who lived in central-Europe. Around the 5th century B.C. these people began to migrate and they expanded in all directions. So, part of them arrived in the Iberian Peninsula and, of course, in Galicia and in Ourense. At least, focusing on the archaeological findings in the Northwest of Spain and specifically on the shortage of weapons in the stratum corresponding to the time of the Celtic expansion, it can be said that these people were not as warlike as the mythical and stereotyped vision we have about them says. Against the prejudice of being fierce warriors and conquerors, the most accepted and shared vision about them show us a cultural influence and a pacific coexistence with the native people in the Iberian Peninsula, with no signs of cruel violence. After these first clarifications, lets see what these ancient people gave us in Ourense taking a look at some of the most interesting Castros found here. But, first, we should answer the following question: what are Castros ?

Bronze sword found in 1967 in the village of Mourus, council of San Xon de Ro (Ourense)

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Galicia is a wonderful and magic place which hides a lot of culture all along its beautiful landscapes and lovely villages. Amongst all this cultural collection, we can point out one kind of construction that is called CASTROS. But, what are castros? Probably, foreign people dont know what they are. The best proof is that there is no English word for these constructions. So, lets learn something about them! Castros are ruins of ancient cities, which were fortified with resistant walls made of stone. The term castro comes from the latin word castrum, which means military fortification. What we see nowadays are the ruins of the houses which were part of a settlement. Maybe, the reader is wondering right what some old ruins have of interest? There is no doubt about the answer. Castros allowed us, human beings, to obtain lots of very valuable information about our ancestors: how they lived, their organization, their crafts, the battles between the different groups They are an open book which brings us past times, and helps us to understand a small part of human history. And, of course, castros are very beautiful, and you can enjoy just staring at them! We can find castros in a very big zone in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. But here, in Galicia, we have the oldest ones, the first constructions of this particular culture which is related to castros, dating from the seventh or sixth century before Christ, when the human being decides to give up nomadic life and create cities. We can find them beside the sea, like for example Santa Tegras Castro (located in Pontevedra), or inland, usually on the top or on the slope of a mountain, like all the castros we can find

in Ourense, which will be described immediately. The houses in Castros, built with hundreds of medium-height stones carefuly placed on top of each other, often have a circular shape, accompanied by a small lobby. Also, its believed that roofs were conical and made of boughs and clay. The usual measurements for Castros were around 2 meters high and only 4 or 5 meters in diameter. The houses in Castros were small constructions. The door was made of wood, and was not installed on the floor, but on a little step, so that water would not come into the house. On the one hand, we can find houses built without any apparent plan, they are mixed with each other, following no logical order. Some Castros have no streets or anything similar. We should remember that the fully controlled growing (or expansion) of cities is recent, just from a few centuries ago, at least in the Western World. But, on the other hand, there are other Castros in which we find kinds of neighbourhoods and irregular streets, which organize the settlement in order to make life easier. We can talk about pre-Roman Castros (circular buildings) and Roman Castros (square buildings). A lot of Castros where inhabited during the two periods, so the two types of constructions were found. An imposing wall always surrounds the Castro. The function of this wall was, as it seems, defensive, but they also had a symbolic use. The bigger the wall was, the more power you showed, so it was easier to keep Castros enemies also had away. pits Sometimes,

(natural or artificial) around them, and

antecastros, natural terraces situated

before the castro, to magnify the defence against rival groups. The settlements (usually, not bigger than 100 m x 70 m, with a maximum of 12 houses inside) often have three parts: a living part, where there are placed the houses and the village life took place; a zone for cattle and agriculture; and a higher zone, on the top of the city from where the inhabitants could look around and control everything outside their little village. For example, they could notice enemy attacks, something very important in those times. This is possible because of the fact that castros were often built on the top of a mountain, as has been said before.

In order to make fire, something absolutely necessary for the undeveloped inhabitants of the castro, the houses had a fire-place. In other houses, fire was simply made on the floor, which was made of earth, so there was no risk. Also, in some Castros there were found ovens for making bread. Castros are a very good example of how the human being adapts to the environment, and not the other way round, as is happening nowadays. People who lived in Castros took advantage of the natural circumstances and created a core of life in an unfavourable place. There was human life in Castros since their construction until just some decades ago, in some cases. Well, better said, Castros still have life. They are full of magic corners which have the uncommon ability of transporting us to the Celtic era. So, theres no doubt about it, Castros are an obligatory visit for foreigners!

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&ie=UTF8&hl=es&oe=UTF8&msa=0 &msid=211433880375849758108.0004d52075443d7745998 On the following pages the four most important Castros in Ourense will be shown, with short explanations about their history and cultural interest. These Castros are Santom, San Cibrn de Ls, Arme and Castromao, as you can see in the picture. Also, if you click on the link you will find the complete map with more details!


Location: Mende, Ourense. Access: Pedestrian (walking path), car, bus line 9 to Mende school. One of the favorite corners for lovers of history and archeology is the Santom archaeological ensemble, which dates from the mid 1st century BC to the mid 1st century AD. Very close to A Cidade das Burgas (Ourense), but within Pereiro de Aguiar city council, on a peak 245 m high beside the Lonia River valley, you can find a spectacular historic ensemble where several civilizations settled for more than two thousand years. The place is in a strategic location, being almost impassable by the river bank. It has nothing to do with the castro, but next to it there are some strange natural construction that must be seen. There are, in the riverside of the Loa, some potholes (Marmitas de gigante in Spanish), which were originated because of water erosion against the stones. Theres a photograph of this odd phenomenon on the left of this text. Before the second century before Christ, the castro was inhabited by pre-Roman societies. When the Roman conquerors arrived at Santom some changes were made, thats why we can find rectangular houses and streets. During the Roman period this was a very crowded castro, possibly the most important in this area. In the second century the village was left by the last inhabitants, until a hundred years later new dwellers came in. These people, with Gallo-Roman features, built a two-floor building with external stairs and an original heating system. However, nowadays both the building and the heating system are

destroyed. Santom is like a time machine which keeps memories from the Iron Age to the first centuries of the era after Christ. The mixture of roman and castreo cultures is unique. Santom is composed of twelve

houses, a rectangular square and lots of stone constructions with different uses, like for example making oil. The view from the top of the castro is incredible. The whole city, with its outstanding, can be seen from there. Its one of the biggest attractions of the castro. This fort was known to exist from the 1920s. Today, this area is entirely restored, very well signposted and with information plates about the various areas and buildings.


Location: San Amaro, Carballio, Ourense. Access: Its 20 km. from the capital, by car (Vigo direction).

The Celtic fort of San Cibrn de Ls is one of the largest in Galicia (20 hectares in size) and it is still in the process of excavation. Its located 20 km. away to the West of Ourense city, between the river Mio and Barbantio. It is set on a small hill, 473 meters above sea level. Eye contact is maintained with neighboring Santa guedas Castro and Trelle Coto Castro. The fort is located at a strategic defense point, in a small plain with steep slopes on the east, somewhat lower ones in the north and the west and flat in the south. As can be seen in the recreated picture beside, this impressive castro was fortified by two concentric walls protecting the houses and a pit surrounding the external one. Inside the walls there still exists a spring that supplied water for the village. The shape is elliptical and the dimensions of its major and minor axes are 420 and 294m. In this settlement there lived around 4.000 habitants who worked as farmers, fishermen and hunters. The most recent studies point out that it was inhabited from the second century BC to the second century AD, with later occasional occupations. Inscriptions and ornamental objects have been found there.

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Amongst the archaeological findings in it, there are some stone inscriptions and many objects like: coins from the first centuries A.D., bronze ornaments (pins, hair pins, pendants, buckles) and one antenna dagger (there were no more weapons found). The most common objects found were ceramic ones. All the recuperated materials are displayed in Ourenses Archaeological Museum.

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Location: Augas Santas (Santa Maria), Allariz, Ourense. Access: Its 5 km. from the capital, by car (Madrid direction). Only 20 minutes away by car we find, in the council of Allariz, the Arme Castro. This castro was built in the fourth century before Christ, and different groups of people, different societies, lived there until it was left definitely in the fourth century of our era. The fact that it held life for so many centuries allows us to find there castreo constructions next to other Roman ones. Arme Castro is surrounded, all around its oval shape, by two defensive walls which have an irregular structure, but that anyhow fulfilled their function, despite their unplanned construction. In this castro there were found lots of stones and other stuff with many different shapes and functions. For instance: stones with swastikas (obviously these swastikas have nothing to do with Nazism; they are an ancient symbol which was taken over by Germans), decorated stones, smooth ceramics, Roman coins, glasses and iron tools. Theres a myth which says that in Arme theres a hidden stone with a lot of gold inside, can you believe it? One of the biggest attractions here are Arme warriors. Some years ago there were found two stone warriors dating from the first century of our era, which were situated in the entry of the castro. They probably represent a god or a hero. Many different theories have been formulated about their function, interpreting them as: funerary, votive, or honorary figures, sculptures dedicated to dead chiefs or warriors, or princes or local heroes who fought in the auxiliary Roman troops. The

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warriors are cut off at the hip and, nowadays, have no head, because of the passage of time. They are holding a sword and a shield, but in a pacific posture, dont worry! Arme is very important not just for the typical constructions of the castro, but because of all the ornamental stuff which has been found there. Its a rich source of culture and tradition, still in process of being discovered, and, for sure, it will give us even more discoveries in the years to come.

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Location: Celanova, Ourense. Access: Its 24 Km. from the capital. We are now visiting very interesting archaeological remains. This castro was located near a Roman causeway and in it there were found a lot of objects and Roman structures like miliarios and stone inscriptions. But it is a very ancient settlement (inhabited from the 6th century B. C. to the 2nd century A.D.) and because of that there were found unique Celtic objects like the trisquele in the picture. It dates from the Iron Age in the 6th centuries BC until the 2nd century AD, while the lower parts present an intense romanization, especially during the first and second centuries AD. It is close to Celanova (2 Km) at Santa Mara de Castromao which is 753m above sea level. It is easy to get there by road. Its shape is an irregular of some circle 453m with and a a circumference

maximum axis of 150m. Like other castros, it has a wall made of stones protecting the buildings inside (of which there are more than seventy). The excavations conducted in this fort have also exposed over 70 occupational structures, defensive structures such as walls or retaining walls, and even part of a paved street. Its shape is an irregular circle with a circumference of some 453 m. and a maximum axis of 150 m. Because of its ancient background, in this site you can learn what the first settlements in the northwestern Peninsula in the Bronze Age were like, their evolution,

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and the processes of adaptation of structures to changing times. Probably was strongly associated with other forts around and near it. Most of the pieces found in this castro are actually exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Ourense. As a little sample of these objects we show here this ceramic oven, dated between the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. This Triskele of the Iron Age is unique due to the fact that it is the only complete one in Galicia with openwork decoration in stone. It is dated between the 1st century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D. Its size is 29cm of diameter and the thickness of the stone is 11cm. The triskelion is considered a symbol classically identified with the Celtic culture. However we can find triskelion in Paleolithic graves dated thousands of years before in other places on the Atlantic fringe of Europe. That is the case of Newgrange in Ireland, where there exists a dome with a triskele in the rock that closes the corridor dated between 2750 and 2250 B.C.

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Learn more in: http://timerime.com/es/evento/1585312/O+nacemento+dos+castros/

Its a very interesting website which will helps you to learn and understand the beginning of the castreo culture and the making of the castros. You know, they are places with a lot of history inside their walls!

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In the following pages you will see photos of the awesome, spectacular and interesting Castros, because outside the borders of our city there is a huge world of this culture and incredible constructions. Enjoy them!

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Ourense Province Archaeological Museum Plaza Maior, s/n 32005 Ourense Galicia

Tlf. +34 988223884 E-mail: mapour@xunta.es Website: http:// www.musarqourense.xunta.es

SOME VIDEOS FROM THE INTERNET

http://www.musarqourense.xunta.es/xacementos/santome/santome-galeria/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvIqO74X6Vo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLn3bJbEJc4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW6HSkMO9EE

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Big crevasses must be filled by small stones

Celtic phrase

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