Castro de Cálago

About this heritage

Contrary to what its name seems to indicate, Vilanova de Arousa dates back to ancient times, as evidenced by Palaeolithic remains found on the beach of As Sinas and Bronze Age discoveries in Tremoedo and Baión. There are also remains of a castro culture in Baión and of a Roman occupation, such as a small treasure of 717 coins found in Tremoedo and the Roman bridge of Ponte Arnelas.

The Cálago ancient fortification can be found in the heart of the town. It is an Iron Age fortification with an elliptical shape, with axis axes of 105x80 metres, in which its crown is clearly identified and a first terrace, although it is very probable that it had a second one, where the Cálago cemetery is currently located. Later, in the Middle Ages, the monastery of Cálago was established in this place, of which its bell tower is preserved today.

To learn more

The Phoenicians lived in independent cities and, although they had a number of agglutinating elements in common, such as language, habits, religion and culture, Fenicia did not exist as a territorial entity and never constituted a unified state. Phoenician cities were often confronted by commercial rivalries, and none of them imposed their hegemony over the others. They were located on peninsulas, such as Byblos and Sidon, or on islands, as in the case of Tyre. Each of them had a territory on dry land that allowed them to obtain the products of agriculture and livestock necessary for their subsistence. Its economy, however, was based above all on industry and commerce, especially maritime commerce.

Politically, these city-states were hereditary monarchies. They were governed by a king assisted by a council of elders, in which the large families of the powerful merchant social class were represented. In fact, it was a regime halfway between the monarchy and the oligarchy, which also had a large body of officials.

Unlike other neighboring cultures, the Phoenicians never had the ambition to conquer territories and subdue other villages in order to increase the power of their rulers. That's why they didn't worry about standing out in the military field. They based their defense on the location of their cities in places of difficult access and on the protection of their ramparts. And with respect to their powerful Assyrian and Babylonian neighbors, they preferred to fight, pact and become their contributors.

To know it better

The Cálago castrum (ancient fortification) site, located in the city centre of Vilanova de Arousa (province of Pontevedra, is included in the Catalogue of Cultural Heritage of Galicia, given the ruins of dwellings of castro and pre-Roman origin, having been discovered. The castra are characterized mainly for being circular dwellings, built from stone, and with straw roofs. Nevertheless, some of them were of elliptic shape. Precisely the case of the Cálago castrum, from the Bronze Age.

Thanks to various excavations that have taken place, it can be said that Cálago hosted human settlements from the 4th century B.C., through to the 4th century A.D. Proof of this are the ruins which have been found of a circular dwellings with a 40-50 centimetre granite wall, where its roof and a first terrace can be identified. A 2,000 year old bracelet was also found.