The medieval guardian, ghostly sentinel of the Pontevedra estuary

For centuries, the Cans Castle - once known as Castelo de Miravel or Miravel - stood proudly above the Pontevedra estuary. Constructed on a grand, granite hill at 358 meters of altitude, the fortress belonged to a parish of the same name. The castle's history is scarce, but documents from the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Tui mention its occupation during the 14th century by Paio Gómez and other companions, which was later confiscated by King Don Henrique III and given to Álvaro Fernández de Valladares.

The formations of the stones from the view below, from the valley, can resemble the shape of a man sitting in front of a grand piano, which is a popular local nickname for the place (O Pianista or O Beethoven). Archaeological remains, such as the entrance, the main tower, and the defensive walls, can be inferred from the marks left on the rock. Today, only the marks carved in the rock and some ceramic remains remain, as visible remnants of the castle.

The castle was a fortress mentioned in records as Castelo de Miravel and may have been destroyed during the irmandiña rebellion (15th century) or at the orders of the Reyes Católicos in 1438, where they demanded the destruction of all castles that were not the heads of areas.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons