Castelo da Lúa

Spain, Spain

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Castelo da Lúa is a 13th-century medieval fortress ruin situated on Punta do Pazo peninsula near Rianxo in A Coruña province, Galicia, northwestern Spain, built by Paio Gómez Chariño as reward for locals' aid in the Seville conquest, strategically overlooking Ría de Arousa for defense and trade control.

Passed to families like Soutomaior amid power struggles with Santiago's archbishop facing royal demolition orders in 1426 - it endured Irmandiño revolts in 1465 and further destruction in 1480 before serving briefly as a prison until abandonment around 1532, later quarried for local buildings and hosting an 18th-century pottery workshop. 

Archaeological digs since 2001 uncovered its rectangular layout with moat, drawbridge, Gothic gateway, bastions, keep, and inner rooms, preserving its feudal legacy possibly named for lady Xoana de Luna or lunar legends.