The castle of Monterrey (in Galician : Castelo de Monterrei ) is a fortress - palace , located in the parish of Santa María in the municipality of Monterrey ( Orense , Galicia , Spain ). It is located on a hill that dominates the valley of the Támega river , at the confluence of the roads that connect Puebla de Sanabria and Orense and about 28 km from Chaves , ( Portugal ).
It is one of the best preserved fortresses in Galicia. It was declared a National Monument the 3 of June of 1931 and is currently an Asset of Cultural Interest , in the catalog of monuments of historical heritage of Spain
The fortress is located on the remains of the Castro de Baroncelli or Baroncelle, and throughout its history, some of the most powerful lineages settled in its strategic complex, such as the Romay , Ulloa , the Zúñiga , the Viedma , the Fonseca , the Acevedo or the Dukes of Alba .
Documentally, the first news of the place comes from the populations settled in the valley at the beginning of the 10th century and on the castle, in the year 950 . It was the villa of Count Menéndez Gutiérrez , father of Rosendo de Celanova .
The castle, in its current primary configuration, would be rebuilt in the 12th century by Alfonso Henríquez , grandson of King Alfonso VI of León and Castilla , who in 1139 would be crowned the first king of Portugal , but would quickly pass to the kingdom of León and Castilla , with the signing of the Treaty of Tuy in 1137 , renouncing Alfonso Henríquez to the possessions of Galicia.
The region, with the lands of the valley, was part of the dominion of the monastery of Celanova . The castle passed through several hands, but its abbots considered it a threat to their authority, so they sought the protection of the Crown, obtaining from King Alfonso IX , in 1213 , a privilege that ordered the demolition of the defenses of the castle, although it was not fulfilled and would pass into the domain of the Crown.
In 1366 the castle acquired importance and was the refuge of Pedro I the Cruel in the civil war that confronted his stepbrother Enrique de Trastámara , meeting Council in the castle. But the war continues and there are a series of alliances between the confronted. Juan Rodríguez de Viedma supports Enrique and is besieged in Allariz by Fernando de Castro, so he must flee, taking refuge in the castle, resisting his persecutor there. When the civil war ends, the new king, and Enrique II grants him the dominion of Monterrey.
Years later, King Juan I of Castile granted the rights to the castle, by marriage, to Don Diego López de Zúñiga . His son carried the title of Viscount of Monterrey, and later the Catholic Monarchs , Fernando and Isabel, granted the title of first Count of Monterrey to Sancho Sánchez de Ulloa y Monterroso , who would have inherited their heritage in 1461 after litigating for almost twenty years with Francisco de Zúñiga .
In 1506 Felipe el Hermoso and Cardinal Cisneros met in this place .
In modern times, two bastioned auxiliary enclosures were built under the direction of the Crown engineers , Juan de Villarroel and Carlos de Grunemberg, which defended the existing convents of the Franciscans and the Jesuits.
The first Galician incunabula was also printed here . With the first printing of movable type, the " Missale Auriense " was printed on February 3, 1494 , the first book published in Galicia and which is currently in the Cathedral of Orense . The cultural life of this small noble court had its importance, even for the teaching of grammar , the arts and theology .
In 1510 it returned to the hands of royalty until Fernando el Católico sold it to Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca . In the 17th century, due to the conflict with Portugal, the defenses were modernized, which were completed in 1711 by the War of Succession .
During the Spanish War of Independence , in January 1809, the Marquis de la Romana turned Monterrey into the headquarters of the Galician Army until Marshal Soult took the fortress.
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