The Castro de Villadonga was our first stop of the day. It is an archaeological site about 20 minutes drive from our manor house, and 25 minutes outside of Lugo. An old village, it was surrounded by a wall, and then multiple successive earthworks and dry moats.
It is an amazing historical experience. First we went through the museum, where we viewed a 20 minute movie (in English) gave us the background of the place, and a good idea of what we were to see. There were lots of artifacts were on display in the museum as well, giving a sense of daily life.
Led by the archivist for the Castro de Villadonga, we walked up the hill to the entrance of the village. It is quite amazing to see the dug out foundations of both square and circular houses.
Then, our guide for the Castro (the aforementioned archivist) took us up on the walls, so we had a great view of the village foundations. On the other side of the village, there was a team of probably six archaeologists working. The chief archaeologist took a break to talk with Aner, who would then translate (he also did for the archivist).
My writing does not do the breathtaking nature of the Castro justice. You will just have to go yourselves!
(On Cuba, when we went last December, I raved about the possibilities of the place, the beauty, and the amazing city of Havana. Given what was done to our diplomats, I have to withdraw my positive comments about what seemed to be the improving developments in that country. It’s a damn shame.)
Back to this trip. . .the stop at the Castro is one of the reasons why I am glad we went with REI. Yes, we are not doing the Compostela (hiking at least 100 kilometers straight through). Our mileage for a week is not impressive. But, we have had the chance to see history (the Castro/cathedrals), pre-history (cave paintings), and pre-pre-history (dinosaur footprints). None of which we would have seen had we just started walking from 100k out. While that is important to some people, Carol and I agree that we enjoyed the various added activities and sights of the trip.
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