Torre de Sandiás

The tower of Sandiás or the tower of the Castro is in the town hall of Sandiás.

Today only part of the keep remains standing, where you can see its thick walls and quadrangular floor plan. Thanks to its well-preserved remains, we know how it was laid out: we can see that it had a basement, three storeys and a terrace. From the first floor there was access to the rest of the floor via a wooden staircase and access to the upper terrace was via an interior staircase in the wall.

It is built on an ancient castro, around the first half of the 12th century, although it is first documented in 1347, which prevents us from historically corroborating the hypothesis that it was built at that time. This elevated area was a strategic space on the natural passageway between the Limia and Arnoia valleys.

It was built to deal with the border fights between Afonso VII of Castile and León and Afonso I of Portugal, who were fighting for the county of Limia. It witnessed various clashes and noble struggles. It was stormed and destroyed by the Duke of Lancaster in 1387 in an attempt to claim the throne of Castile. It then belonged to Alonso Pimentel, Count of Benavente and Lord of the town of Allariz. Later, in 1467, it was again destroyed by the Irmandiños.

Its ruin has been a Cultural Interest Site since 22nd April 1949 and can be visited freely by pedestrian access.