Sobroso Castle ( es, Castillo de Sobroso, glg, Castelo de Sobroso) is a medieval castle in the village of
Vilasobroso in
Galicia,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Location
The castle is located in Vilasobroso, a village in the municipality of
Mondariz
Mondariz is a town and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It has a population of 4,440 inhabitants.
Geography
Parishes
The municipality of Mondariz is formed by 12 ''parroquias'' (civil parishes) ...
, belonging to the ''
comarca
A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...
'' of
O Condado
O Condado is a ''comarca'' in the Galician Province of Pontevedra, centred on the town of Ponteareas (''Puenteareas'' in Castilian Spanish). It covers an area of 341 km2, and the overall population of this comarca
A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) ...
. It sits on Landín Hill, overlooking the Condado valley, right up to the Portuguese border. Due to its strategic position, the castle was known as "the key of the
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia ( gl, Reino de Galicia, or ''Galiza''; es, Reino de Galicia; pt, Reino da Galiza; la, Galliciense Regnum) was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire north ...
".
Etymology
The name of the Castle, and the village itself, comes from the Latin SUBEROSUM, in reference to the 'sobreiras', ''Quercus suber'' or
cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
trees that once surrounded it.
History
The castle was restored from its ruinous state thanks to the efforts of local journalist Alejo Carrera Muñoz, who in 1923 bought the ruins of the castle from the
Count of Torre Cedeira for the sum of 5,000
pesetas. He carried out the restoration work single-handedly, without any help from local authorities, until his death in 1967. In 1981, the neighbouring municipality of
Ponteareas
Ponteareas is town and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, in Spain.
It is located on the Vigo-Benavente highway and on the river Tea, a right-hand tributary of the Miño. It is the chief town of a fertile hilly region, which produces wi ...
purchased the castle from Carrera's only child, Zita Teresa Carrera Ferreira, for 30 million
pesetas. From 1995 onwards, the local council began their own restoration work on the castle.
The castle currently houses a cultural and
ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
museum.
Ownership
In 2014, Ponteareas town council signed an agreement ceding the castle to the provincial council of Pontevedra for 10 years. As part of the agreement the provincial council would carry out renovations to the castle and promote the castle alongside the more well-known castles of Soutomaior and Baiona.
See also
*
Marquisate of Sobroso
Further reading
*
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External links
{{Commons, Castelo de Sobroso, Sobroso Castle
Official site(in Spanish)
Buildings and structures completed in the 9th century
Castles in Galicia (Spain)