The fort is located on the Monte Boi peninsula, also know as Monterreal. This site has been known over the past 2000 years as the walled precinct. Pre-Christian civilisations such as the Celts, the Phoenicians and the Romans lived here in the past. During the present time, the place was occupied by many different people and it suffered a number of attacks and modifications. The village of Baiona was site here due to a royal privilege issued by The Catholic Kings, as a defence against the corsair incursions.

The peninsula covers an area of 18 hectares and sis surrounded by 3 Km of crenellated battlement walls dating back from the 11^th to the 17^th centuries. This place changed ownership over the years until 1963, when it was acquired by the Ministry of Information & Tourism to convert it into a Parador Hotel named Conde de Gondomar.

The fort has three important towers: the Tower of the Clock is found near the entrance. Inside this tower there was a hidden warning bell which served as an alarm in case of enemy attacks. The Tower of the Tenaille rises to the East: its duty was to defend the port with artillery. In the West the Tower of the Prince stands over the bay. This is probably the oldest tower and it used to serve as lighthouse for vessels. It shows three coats of arms (the Austrias's, the Sotomaior's and the one of Baiona). The tower was named after the Portuguese prince Afonso Enriques, imprisoned inside the tower in 1137.

The Fortress can be visited all through the year. Amazing sunsets over the ria and the Cíes islands can be admired from the walls. Not to miss the coastline along which Baiona stretches.

The State Hotel Parador de Baiona has one of the best localisation of the whole network of state hotels. Its area comprises 180,000 m2 and a 3-km wall, which the King of Castile ordered to build in the 14th century due to continuous quarrelling with the King of Portugal.

After a short improvement period to built luxurious bedrooms, a gym, a sauna and a Jacuzzi, the hotel was re-opened by the end of 1998. An international summit of Latin-American Prime Ministers was held in the Parador those days.

During the 18th century the fortress was the private residence of the Count of Gondomar. People working in the Parador say that each, by the same month, an ancient lady comes. She says she has a date with the Count ghost and every night she seats down near the wall at the moonlight and waits. Someday in the future legends will talk about these Romantic dates.

An aristocratic atmosphere

As every other Parador in Spain, Conde de Gondomar is decorated with Castilian furniture and antiquities. It has several corners, comfortable rooms with different environments, spacious bedrooms watching the ria. The menu offers excellent cuisine with outstanding importance of typical Galician dishes.

A mirador over the Ocean

Half Medieval Fortress, half Galician typical palace, the state hotel Parador Conde de Gondomar stands on the Monterreal peninsula, an marvellous mirador over the Ocean surrounded by a beautiful autochthonous-vegetation forest. Within the precinct the old defensive towers of the castle are still kept.

Visitors are welcomed to the Monterreal precinct, from which the marine landscape and the magnificent sunset over the ria can be watched.