Today in #hillfortsWednesday I will talk to you about one of the most enigmatic and spectacular fortresses on the Galician coast: Mount Pindo. It is a story of wolf queens, burning forests and excommunicated castles. Come on, thread! 👇 
Mount Pindo is located in Carnota, #Galicia. It is a geological prodigy, witness to the break-up of Pangea and the appearance of the sea, defining the Galician coast 100 million years ago with granite tectonic cliffs. #hillfortsWednesday.
As a consequence of these geological processes, a spectacular landscape can be seen, including the famous Ézaro waterfall, falling directly into the sea. Tradition says that the witches lived in a cave behind the water. #hillfortsWednesday.
Legend says that at the beginning of Time Mount Pindo was a huge, impenetrable forest. It burned for nine years until it showed all the stone. This legend can be found in other sacred mountains of the Atlantic, such as Mount Saint Michel (Brittany, Normandy).
All these labyrinthine stones and their inaccessibility contributed to the Pindo becoming a real cultural landscape covered with fortifications. We know three: Peñafiel, San Xurxo and the fortress of A Moa. #hillfortsWednesday.
Penafiel (lit. 'Faithful Stone') is a castle demolished during the Revolución Irmandiña against the nobility in the XVth century. An incredible 12th century inscription can be found: "kings, bishops and priests excommunicate this castle". We do not know why. #hillfortsWednesday
San Xurxo ('Saint George') is an early medieval castle linked to the high aristocracy and royalty. It controlled the passage at the foot of the mountain and probably defended this part of the coast against Viking raids. It is very well preserved. #hillfortswednesday
But there is a fortress, huge, at the top of the mountain that we know nothing about. It covers 10 hectares of desolate land, and there are no structures inside it to facilitate dating: the fortress of A Moa. #hillfortswednesday
The hillfort of A Moa takes advantage of the upper elevations of O Pindo, closing the most accessible parts of the mountain with spectaculars stone walls. The big thing about this engineering is that the builders conceived the mount itself as a fortress. #hillfortswednesday
Look at these examples: the ramparts merges with the natural stone walls, closing the passages through the diaclases. In the rest, the mountain becomes a wall #hillfortswednesday
Even so, the fortress was conceived with sophisticated planning and to show power and safety. The main entrance has several defensive lines, towers and bastions. Explore my 3D model. #hillfortswednesday sketchfab.com/3d-models/defe…
So who built it? It is very difficult to know. But between the 5th and 8th century, the western coast of Galicia was covered with these huge fortifications high up in the mountains. Some of them could be dated. In pics, the Faro de Budiño (O Porriño). #hillfortswednesday
For now, in the fortress of A Moa we only have fascinating legends. In one of the gates, it is said that Lupa, the wolf queen, is buried with her husband and her treasure. You can hear to Xil telling us (in Galician). #hillfortswednesday
While Penafiel and San Xurxo are typical medieval castles, A Moa fortress suggest a different approach to fortifications: massive, temporary, symbolic. Maybe communities reinvented the old Iron Age heritage by protecting themselves again in the mountains. #hillfortswednesday
Or maybe in the Late Antiquity and Early Medieval times new powers and elites were able to build unique castles with a sense, functionality and uses that we (still) can barely understand from today. #HillfortsWednesday
Today, together with a local association, we share passion and knowledge about this mountain, and collect the enormous amount of legends of Mount Pindo from the elders, like Pepe do Fieiro, 87 years old and still climbing to the top of the mountain. #HillfortsWednesday
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