rOUtE 20 Vidán – A Rocha – Brandía

At the beginning of the fourteenth century, Archbishop Berenguel de Landoira encountered the opposition of the city of Compostela to his appointment and used the fortification as a post of attack, but also as a defense against the siege. When he finally gained control of the archdiocese, he undertook a program of reforms that accentuated its defensive features, giving it a concentric castle structure that followed a model designed by the French Crusaders in the Holy Land. It suffered two sieges. The first in 1458, when a brotherhood made up of burghers from Compostela, Muros and Noia supported by the Count of Trastámara surrounded the castle until King Henry IV finally ordered the siege to be lifted. The second occasion was in the Irmandiña War, in 1467, and this time it ended with its demolition. At the beginning of the 21st century, different archaeological excavations brought the foundations of Rocha Forte back to light.