Manzaneda

A Porta da Vila is the only remaining entrance to the medieval village of Manzaneda, built by royal initiative in the 12th century and which later passed into the hands of the powerful lineage of the Osorio family, Counts of Lemos, famous for increasing the tax burden on the peasants to the point of suffocation. For this reason, the Medieval Village was one of the targets of the revolt of the ‘Irmandiños’ at the end of the 15th century, causing the destruction of part of Manzaneda Castle, which was probably a medieval keep.

Shortly thereafter, the town passed into the hands of the Sarmiento family, the new Count of Ribadavia. Their presence in Manzaneda is attested by the construction of the Sarmiento prison building and the transformation of the old medieval tower into a modern isolated barbican-style fortress.

This wall once reached a length of 400 metres, of which only 100 metres remain visible today, as most of it was swallowed up by the inevitable growth of houses attached to this wall, which would have been 5 metres thick at the base, 2.5 metres thick at the top, and a maximum height of roughly 10 metres. The wall is curiously embellished with a kind of spike that gives it the appearance of a fortification.

As for the fortress, we are left with the remains of an isolated barbican fortification, marking the access points to the Medieval Village of Manzaneda. Its construction began in the 16th century by order of the Counts of Ribadavia on the site of a medieval tower destroyed by the ‘Irmandiños’ in the late 15th century. The custom of using the stone from old buildings to build new dwellings has left hardly any remains today, but the loopholes inside the walls are still visible, together with some pieces of old noble coats of arms.

The Sarmiento Prison building marks the arrival of the Sarmiento lineage (Counts of Ribadavia) in the 16th century. It belonged to the castle,
although it has undergone successive alterations that make it difficult to date. It has a coat of arms with the thirteen Sarmiento family crests and an arrow slit over a narrow staircase. It is now completely restored and is used for cultural activities.

Apart from the pleasure of exploring the remains of the walled enclosure, visitors will also delight in strolling through the medieval streets, which are so narrow and full of old houses prepared to withstand the cold of the mountains.

The road named A Cavarca refers to the old moat (cárcava) that once served to protect the walled town of Manzaneda, and is now no more than a road with houses, so that only the name of the road is a reminder of its former use.

The road O Medio would be the main artery of the old Medieval Village of Manzaneda. The other secondary roads organising all the space inside the walls stem from this main route. The narrow medieval streets are used to living in darkness and with peculiar road infrastructures to join several streets, such as the passageway of O Calexón.