Mount Pindo
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Mount Pindo () is a mountain located in the autonomous community of Galicia,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It is in the municipality of
Carnota Carnota is a municipality in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Muros. It has an area of 66.4 km2, a population of 5,285 (2004 estimate) and a population dens ...
and province of A Coruna. Composed of granite, it has a height of 627m. It is of local mythological importance.


Geography

Mountain is located in the Atlantic coast near
Carnota Carnota is a municipality in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Muros. It has an area of 66.4 km2, a population of 5,285 (2004 estimate) and a population dens ...
. Mountain prevent connections between
village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
s. Since 2014 it is part of
Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
special area of conservation of Monte Pindo and Carnota. The area covers 4674 hectares. A number or rare animals live in the area, including
otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...
, many bats, black-throated loon and
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
. Local environmentalists are campaigning to develop the area to full nature park.Monte Pindo, Parque Natural!
Adega.
In 2013 there was a devastating wildfire at Monte Pindo. It burned more than 1600 hectares of forest.


History

There is evidence of human presence from 6000 years ago in form of ceramic findings. In 10th century bishop of Iria Flavia ordered a castle to be built on slopes of the mountain to protect the area from attacks from the sea. The castle was occupied by several noble families of Galicia until it was destroyed in the 1467 war. After that treasure hunters have destroyed the remaining walls. The particular geomorphology of Mount Pindo, full of reliefs in granite bowls, inspired many stories and legends of deities, carvings, or mythical monsters and giants, including some on the river Xallas, because the waterfall Ézaro fall by its waters directly on the salt water of the sea. It found numerous archaeological remains, as petroglyphs helpful bronze and remains of a supposed old hermitage. In the tenth century Sisnando (bishop of Iria Flavia) ordered the construction of the Castle of St. George on the shores of the mountain as protection against pirate attacks medieval. Several noble families of Galicia inhabited until the castle was destroyed in 1467 in Irmandiñas Revolutions. In this environment would be other two castles, but one that does not retain material remains determinants or documentation parsable more than a Latin inscription on a stone isolated: Kings, bishops, priests, by all powers received from God, this castle here excomungaron This inscription refers to excommunication that in 1130 launched the archbishop Gelmírez against Earl Lock, to have prisoner in his castle to the Archdeacon of Castile. Another fort on the mountain was called Peñafiel: there have also been hermitages, wells and paths. During the Spanish Civil War mountain was used as a refuge to escape from the enemy.


Etymology

The term ''Pindo'' has its origin in the language most likely Celtic: Binn dubh (Mt. dark, dark top). The name ''Pindo'' may arise from the dialect of Gaelic Celtic spoken in the area before the Romanization of Gallaecia: Binn (Irish Gaelic) or beinn (Gaelic) (literally tip or apex) and dubh (adjective to describe something dark). Binn Dubh (pindub) amount after Pindo. The Romans gave, however, the name of Celtic Supertamarci (which refers to celtización the area). The authors also provide several examples of physically similar to the hills of Carnot and called exactly that way in both Ireland (Monte Binn Dubh), as in Scotland (Beinn Dubh Monte).


Mythology

The mountain is regarded as mythical place. Several legends are related to celts which occupied the area in ancient times. It is said the mountain was their Mount Olympos where they made sacrifices. The lush nature connects the place to fertility, which has encouraged pilgrimage of couples wishing to get more children. Some caves in the area are said to belong to
mouros According to Portugal, Portuguese, Galicia (Spain), Galician, and Asturian mythology, the Mouros or Moiros are a race of supernatural beings which inhabited the lands of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Asturias and Portugal since the beginning of time. ...
, the supernatural beings living underground.
Queen Lupa Queen Lupa (also known as Raíña Lupa, Raíña Lopa, Raíña Luparia, Raíña Luca and Raíña Loba) is a character from Galician mythology. She is mentioned in both the ''Codex Calixtinus'' and the ''Golden Legend'' involving the translation of ...
is said to be buried at the Castle of Saint George, on Mount Pindo.


Name

There are numerous
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
s about this mountain, which some romantic Galician historians considered the ''Celtic Olympus''. Its dark color is one of the main characteristics of Pindo. Place-names often reflect the topographic features characteristic of a given area, and such descriptive place-names are common in the indigenous languages of the different areas of the world. Since Galicia has always been considered a land occupied by the ancestors of the local inhabitants over countless generations, without massive immigration of outsiders, a large number of Galician place-names should reflect similar descriptive toponyms. However, in addition to place-names easily decipherable in the
Galician language Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...
, we find place-names which allow no easy interpretation. As in other areas of the globe, such unintelligible place-names may reflect languages spoken earlier in the region, but which have later died out, leaving the descriptive place-names unintelligible in the present-day languages of the area. Since Galicia was clearly a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
region at the time of the Roman conquest, let us have a look at the place-name Pindo from the perspective of the
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
– more specifically from the perspective of the Goidelic or Gaelic branch of the
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
. In
Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigeno ...
, binn means “
peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...
”, “mountain top” and, by extension, at times it is used in reference to a mountain. In
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
, beinn also means “peak”, “mountain top” and, by extension, at times it is used in reference to a mountain too. In Irish Gaelic, however, the sound represented by the letter b retains its voicing. Thus, the sound is quite similar to a Galician b /b/ in word-initial position. This, however, can be deceptive in the written languages, since the Galician b lenites to a soft sound like /v/ in word-medial or word-final position, while the Irish letter b is not lenited in such positions. In Scottish Gaelic, b is pronounced as the unvoiced, unaspirated consonant /p/, very similar to the Galician consonant p /p/. In both Gaelic languages, dubh means “dark”. In
Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
dialects and in
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
, the final consonant, pronounced like the Spanish consonant b inter-vocalically and represented by the digraph bh, is elided. Therefore, the word dubh is pronounced /du/. O Guerreiro, Monte Pindo.jpg Xigante do Monte Pindo.jpg Cabo Fisterra desde o Monte Pindo.jpg O Pindo GDFL200503.jpg Carnota - Monte Pindo (A Coruña, Galicia, España) 04.JPG Carnota - Monte Pindo (A Coruña, Galicia, España) 09.JPG Carnota - Monte Pindo (A Coruña, Galicia, España) 08.JPG


References


External links

{{Commons category, Monte Pindo
Mount Pindo
Mountains of Galicia (Spain)