The Fortress of O Castro is a hilltop fortress in Vigo, (

province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, ...

), Spain built in 1665 during the Portuguese Restoration War in order to protect the city from the continuous raids by the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fra ...

, allies of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Built on the hill of the same name, the defensive system of the city consisted of the fortresses of O Castro and San Sebastián and the now disappeared city wall. The city wall had an irregular shape due to the

orography Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

of the city, it was constructed by the Engineer Colonel Fernando de Gourannanbergue and ''

maestre de campo ''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the ''capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a '' tercio''. Their po ...

'' Diego Arias Taboada to link the two fortresses. Despite this effort to provide security to the city, documents from that time say that this defensive system was ineffective as it could not impede landings further along the coast. After several attempts to improve the defenses of the city,

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

was looted again by British navy on the 23–24 October 1702 during Battle of Vigo Bay at the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. The fortress and Vigo fell once more to a British force during the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North America and Northern Europe as we ...

in October 1719. In 1809, the fortress was occupied by the French army during

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

; on 28 March that year the fortress was reconquered following an uprising by people of

, because of the city was given the honorific title of "the faithful, loyal and courageous city of Vigo" the following year. Nowadays the fortress is one of the preferred sites for people to take a walk in

, because his beautiful gardens, open spaces, fonts and also the privileged views.

Gallery

Image:CastroFortress3.jpg, Part of the internal garden of the fortress Image:CastroFortress4.jpg, Part of the internal garden and "cruceiro" of the fortress Image:CastroFortress6.jpg, One of the entries of the second wall Image:CastroFortress7.jpg, One of the entries of the first wall

References

{{Reflist

External links

Map and Description

Information
Spanish
More Photos
Spanish
Castro Fortress at Google Maps
Vigo Buildings and structures in the Province of Pontevedra Tourist attractions in Galicia (Spain) Buildings and structures completed in 1665 1665 establishments in Spain