Sunday, June 7, 2026 (9.9 miles)

The sun cast a golden light around the premises of Paço de Vitorino as we made our way to mass, followed by breakfast.  Well, everyone else attended mass – I had the time wrong, and on top of that, couldn’t remember where the chapel was – so I enjoyed the beautiful morning sun longer!  

Once on the bus we crossed over the River Minho (Portuguese, Miño in Spanish) into Spain, saying a fond farewell to Portugal (and cod fish)!  We drove up and up Monte de Santa Tecla in A Guarda, Galicia, looking back at the astounding views of the River and now also we were able to see the Atlantic Ocean!!  

Santa Tecla (Portuguese, Trega in Spanish) could be 5,000 years old – it’s really not known.  Our guide, Vitor had a first hand story for us!  He was doing archeological work upon the opposing mountain on the Portuguese side of the River Minho & could see Monte de Santa Tecla from there (Portuguese mountain being 2,000 years old). They found a stone in their excavation work illustrating a mountain behind a mountain and small circles.  It was concluded that the mountain behind was Santa Tecla and the many circles the hut homes in its celtic hill fort of centuries ago.  I lifted a bunch of information from Wikipedia, but it’s so darn interesting I felt a need to include it at the end of this post. Our tour of the remaining structures was Fascinating!!  And the panoramic vista Jaw Dropping!

We didn’t start walking out of A Guarda until 12:30, yet what a Spectacular eight miles along the Ocean it was!! The weather was outstanding, a sea breeze pleasant and invigorating, the ongoing fragrance of Eucalyptus uplifting and the simple to extravagant beach homes intriguing!

We stopped at Taperia A Camboa for a “light” lunch of salad, calamari and Spanish tortilla and ended at the Monasteries de Oia, which was impressive looking yet not open. We all did love the little town of Oia though!!

I MEAN WE WALKED OUT ALONG THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!! What more needs to be said!

The cherry on top – driving into and lodging in waterfront Vigo, where I had time to make a quick visit to the marina before our delicious dinner of grilled veggies, sea bass with gnocchi and pesto sauce and ice cream!

“The Castro of Santa Trega is an archaeological site on the hillsides of Mount Santa Trega, in the southwestern Galician municipality of A Guarda, Spain. The site is strategically located overlooking the mouth of the River Miño, at 341 meters (1118 feet) above sea level. Belonging to the Castro Culture, it is one of the most emblematic and visited Galician forts (castros).

In 1931, it was declared a National Historical and Artistic Monument (‘Monumento Histórico Artístico Nacional’) and was also considered a Place of Cultural Interest (‘Bien de Interés Cultural’: BIC).

According to classical authors such as Pliny the Elder, Pomponius Mela, Appian and Ptolemy, the southwest corner of modern-day Galicia was populated by the Grovii or Grovios community, their most important city being the Castellum Tyde or Tude (now Tui). Archaeological findings show that the town would have had similar sized constructions; would have been peaceful; and would have supported an agrarian economy with certain purchasing and commercial power (as demonstrated by the abundance of foreign products).

Santa Trega is a ‘Castro-Roman’ settlement. It was inhabited between 100 BC and 100 AD, in a period when the process of Romanisation of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula had already begun. Despite this, the construction system reflects techniques that respect the Castro tradition and has seen very little Roman influence. This style is dominated by the use of circular structures. Only a small percentage of the estimated size of the settlement has been excavated so far. At present only the northern part, excavated in the 1980s, and some structures at the top of the mountain are open to visitors. It is bordered by a wall surrounding a stretch of land more than 700 metres (2300 feet) north-south by 300 metres (984 feet) east-west. However, these measurements are not confirmed to be accurate.

THE WALLS: The layout of the wall marks the limit of the settlement with respect to its surroundings rather than having a defensive or deterrent function. The wall is made of stones strengthened with clay with a maximum thickness of 160 cm (63 inches) and lacks a foundation.

THE STONE BUILDINGS:  Almost all the stone structures are free-standing dwellings with circular or oval foundations. A few houses have a rectangular floor plan, usually with arched corners. The thickness of the dwelling walls is usually quite uniform, about 40 centimetres (15 inches) on average, with the better finished wall to the outside. The vast majority of these houses are small and sit directly on the bedrock with their walls being covered with a lime and sand mortar. Traces of pigmentation found indicate that the plaster on the walls would have been tinted different colours. Many of the dwellings have a foyer, considered by experts to be a sign of Mediterranean influence adapted to maintain the characteristics of indigenous construction. Many monolithic door jambs and lintels have been found decorated with intertwined geometric shapes and rope-like moulding. In addition, embedded in the walls, small cylindrical monolithic blocks have been found decorated with geometric shapes such as spirals, triskelions, Celtic roses, or pinwheel designs. Other elements such as plinths present similar decorations in addition to representations of animals. Archaeological findings do not support the traditionally observed system of a conical roof supported by a central post. In the place where a hole to fix the central post would have been found, archaeologists instead discerned evidence of ‘lareiras’ or hearths, suggesting a roofing system that distributes the weight directly onto the walls rather than a post. Not all of the stone structures discovered at Castro de Santa Trega served a residential purpose. In particular, one type of building appears to be storehouses which possess a less elaborate and less careful construction than the neighbouring houses. Inside these buildings, remains of amphoras, a mill, carving stones, etc. were found. The urban distribution of the settlement is characterized by groups of buildings forming individualized clusters. These clusters are known as “family or household units” and are formed by dwellings and storehouses set around a small, often paved, communal courtyard. The site’s urban planning includes a complex network of rainwater drainage channels under the pathways, or sometimes on the surface, sculpted into the bedrock and covered with slabs. Sometimes these waters were channelled into tanks built into the rock and covered with a weatherproof mortar.

THE PETROGLYPHS Proof of human presence approximately 2,000 years before the settlement was built is confirmed by petroglyphs or rock engravings in various locations. Many of these petroglyphs were concealed by structures raised during the construction of the fort. The ‘Laja del Mapa’, also known as the ‘Laja Sagrada’ (Sacred Rock), is the best known of the geometric representations that are still visible. Situated on the highest part of the hill, the engraving is made up of various spirals, concentric circles and roughly parallel lines. It is evident that these engravings have no relation to the fort, since they are a product of a society that developed 2,000 years before, during the final stage of the Galician Neolithic period.” (Wikipedia)