Castro of Santa Trega, Celtic archaeological site at Mount Santa Trega, A Guarda, Spain
Castro de Santa Trega is an Iron Age settlement on a coastal hill above A Guarda at the mouth of the Miño River. The ruins consist of more than one hundred circular stone houses, wall remains, and a system of channels for rainwater.
The settlement was founded in the first century before the common era and abandoned about one hundred years later, probably as inhabitants moved to new Roman towns along the coast. Excavations in the 20th century uncovered tools, coins, and pottery that show trade with the Mediterranean region.
The place takes its name from a hill topped by a small chapel that has been a pilgrimage destination for centuries and remains popular with people in the region today. Visitors can walk among the circular stone foundations and imagine how families lived, cooked, and worked there.
A path of packed earth and stone leads uphill through the site, and sturdy footwear is advisable because of the uneven surfaces among the ruins. On clear days the view from the summit reaches the Portuguese coast and the open sea.
Several rock outcrops on the slope are engraved with symbols two thousand years older than the houses, and their meaning remains unclear to this day. The so-called Sacred Stone shows circles and spirals that may relate to solstices or harvest cycles.
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