A night at the castle Nov 07, 2009

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In the town of Maceda, in the Orense province of Spain, tourists are invited to spend a day near an architectural monument and dive into the epoch of knights. After many years of oblivion and silence the local 11th Century knights' castle found a second life and became a popular small and cozy hotel. There aren't that many rooms at this hotel: four rooms for couples, one single room, and one suite. In addition to the above, tourist are offered to visit the library which contains numerous contemporary as well as antique books in Gaelic, Portuguese, Castilian, and English. One of the most spacious rooms of the castle has been designed to serve as a hall for conferences, banquets, and movie nights. At the castle-hotel there is also a permanents exposition-museum dedicated to Joâo da Nova, a famous sailor and discoverer born in this town.

The castle itself has been found in the 11th Century and stood out among other buildings in its category and in the whole region, as one of the most thoroughly built and sophisticated castle. Unfortunately, in the begging of the 20th Century the descendants of the first owners have left the castle, and it gradually came to a state of desolation after suffering from fires, robberies and vandalism. The government of Spain has passed a bill on April 22, 1949, ruling that the castle is to become a historical and cultural monument of architecture. However, little to no funds were allocated towards the maintenance and security of the building, and thus, the once majestic building continued its cycle of aging and decay.

In the 90s the municipality finally received full rights for the castle and started working on its reconstruction. Today the renewed castle in Maceda is happy to greet its first visitors, travelers or tourists – all are welcome in this wonderful mansion. It appears that today the castle has rightly earned to be called the main and most interesting architectural sight in the Orense province.