Spain Getaways: Castillo de Doiras In Los Ancares

Castillo de Doiras is one of the best preserved castles in Galicia, Spain. It dates back to the 15th century and stands on Los Ancares mountain range at an altitude of about 750 meters. In spite of being in a state of abandonment, it is worth a visit just to experience the amazing views around it. Castillo de Doiras has an interesting legend with a beautiful white deer as the protagonist:

Once upon a time, there was a nobleman called Froiaz who lived in this beautiful castle dominating the Ancares Mountains, Lugo. Froiaz had a son, Egas and a daughter, Aldara.

Aldara was a young lovely girl who was soon to be married to Aras, the son of another nobleman from a neighboring castle. One afternoon, Aldara disappeared from the grounds of the castle, there was a frantic search but she was nowhere to be found.

A few hours later, one of the servants told the search party that he had seen her go towards a nearby stream. Fearing the worst, father, brother, servants and squires rushed to the spot but again, found nothing. After days of extensive search through forests, mountains, hamlets and valleys, they finally realized she must have been attacked by a boar or wolves and was dead.

Years later, her brother Egas was hunting in the mountains surrounding the castle when he spotted a beautiful white doe. He shot and killed the animal but realized it was too heavy to carry in the snow and he was too far away. He decided to take one of the front legs to show proof of his hunt. When he arrived back to the castle and took the doe’s leg out of his bag to show it to his father, they were both horrified to see a slender, soft, white hand wearing a golden ring with gemstones. They realized in great fear that it was Aldara’s ring.

With a heavy heart, father and son go back to the mountain where Egas killed the doe. In the same spot, they found Aldara’s body, dressed in white with a red stain on her chest and an arrow sticking out of her heart. To this day, nobody knows what happened or how she was turned into a doe.

The castle still stands watching over the breathtaking Ancares mountains.