Long before the medieval fortress or the Baroque churches, Roman engineers left their mark on Cartelle. The Ponte do Freixo — a magnificent four-arched bridge spanning the Arnoia river between Cartelle and Celanova — is one of the few genuinely Roman bridges surviving in Galicia. Built with cushioned ashlar blocks, semicircular arches, and a horizontal slope, it carried travellers along a secondary route of the Via Nova (Via XVIII of the Antonine Itinerary), connecting Aquis Querquennis to Lucus Augusti.

Further evidence of Roman presence lies embedded in the very walls of the Church of Santa María de Couxil, where a Roman altar (ara romana) with inscriptions was incorporated into the building’s exterior — a remarkable survival of pre-Christian worship repurposed by later generations. These traces suggest that the territory of Cartelle was not merely passed through but actively settled during the centuries of Roman Gallaecia.

Rising 13 metres from a granite outcrop at 506 metres elevation, the Torre de Sande commands the landscape between the Arnoia and Mino river valleys. Its silhouette is visible from many kilometres around — a deliberate statement of power over the surrounding territory. This medieval fortress, with its rectangular base of 6.4 by 5.8 metres and crenellated parapet, controlled communication routes and defended the territory of "Limiam" against Portuguese incursions.

The first documented mention dates to 1141, when King Alfonso VII "The Emperor" and Queen Berengaria of Barcelona donated the Castle of Sande — with all its properties, rights, and jurisdiction — to the Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova in a charter issued at Zamora on 5 May. This donation was later confirmed by Alfonso IX. By the 14th century, the fortress had passed to Paio Rodríguez de Araujo, a vassal of King Juan I of Castile who also controlled the lands of Lobios, Xendive, and Milmada.

While most churches in the region fell under the jurisdiction of the Celanova monastery, the Church of Santa María de Cartelle tells a different story. This 18th-century basilica with three naves and three doors on its main façade belonged to the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Quiroga (Lugo), rather than Celanova.

Some local historians have speculated that the church may have originally been a Knights Templar property before the Order’s dissolution in 1312, after which Templar holdings across Iberia were transferred to the Hospitallers and other orders. While no definitive proof of Templar origins has been found, the Hospitaller connection itself is remarkable, placing Cartelle within a broader network of military order properties across Galicia and the Iberian Peninsula. Their presence here, distinct from the Benedictine sphere of Celanova, speaks to the complexity of medieval ecclesiastical politics and the overlapping jurisdictions that shaped these communities.

In 1646, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared three times at a site in the parish of As Marabillas, leading to the construction of one of the most important Marian sanctuaries in the province of Ourense. The Santuario de Nosa Señora das Marabillas stands imposingly within a centuries-old oak grove, its façade crowned by a large two-body tower with a niche above the main door housing the figure of the Virgin.

Every year on Whit Monday (the Monday after Pentecost), the sanctuary hosts the Romería da Virxe das Marabillas — a spectacular romería and celebration that is one of the province’s most important Marian festivals. The procession is distinguished by magnificent ramos de bolas — large floral arches and bouquets fashioned from multicoloured paper balls — accompanied by a fair with over 100 stalls. Nearby stands a poignant sculpture dedicated to Galician emigrants, a reminder of the deep connection between faith and the experience of those who left.

Like much of rural Ourense, Cartelle has experienced a dramatic demographic transformation over the past century. From nearly 9,000 inhabitants in 1950, the population has declined to approximately 2,500 today — a reflection of the massive Galician emigration that saw over two million people leave for the Americas between 1850 and 1960, with Buenos Aires becoming known as the "Fifth Province of Galicia."

The second wave of emigration, between 1960 and 1990, took over 130,000 people from the province of Ourense alone to France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Today, Cartelle’s aging population — with seniors comprising approximately 45% of residents — faces the challenge of preserving its extraordinary heritage. Yet the community endures: the recovery of the Entroido de Sande, ongoing efforts to restore the Torre de Sande, and the vitality of festivals like As Marabillas speak to a resilience that defines these communities.