The Piconha Castle is a Portuguese medieval fortification now situated in the Galizan municipality of Calvos de Randín

Calvos de Randín

Calvos de Randím is a municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of the north-west Iberian Peninsula. It is located to the very south of the province....

, Ourense

Ourense (province)

Ourense is a province of northwestern Spain, in the southeastern part of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra in the west, Lugo in the north, León and Zamora in the east, and by Portugal in the south. With an area of 7,278 square km it is the only...

, Galiza. The castle, now in ruins, dates back to the early period of Portuguese independence (12th century) and was constructed over a previous Callaeci fort. In 1650 it was destroyed by Castilian

Crown of Castile

The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

 troops during the Portuguese war of Restoration.

Even though the castle was the head of the Terras da Piconha, this jurisdiction was suppressed in 1866 with the transfer of the land to the Kingdom of Spain. The castle, part of the domains of the House of Braganza

House of Braganza

The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...

 also guaranteed the privileges of the Couto Misto, an independent state formed by the villages of Santiago

Santiago de Rubiás

Santiago de Rubiás is a village in the municipality of Calvos de Randín, Ourense, Galiza. The census for 2007 showed 65 inhabitants. Until 1868 it formed with Meaus and Rubiás a de facto independent state called Couto Misto, of which Santiago was the capital....

, Meaus

Meaus

Meaus is a village in the municipality of Baltar, Ourense, Galiza. The census for 2007 showed 38 inhabitants . Until 1868 it formed with Santiago and Rubiás a de facto independent state called Couto Misto....

 and Rubiás

Rubiás

Rubiás is a village in the municipality of Calvos de Randín, Ourense, Galiza. The census for 2007 showed 97 inhabitants . Until 1868 it formed with Santiago de Rubiás and Meaus a de facto independent state called Couto Misto....

.