Castilla y León

A Celtic castle existed here, from which resistance against the Romans originated. The city was nevertheless taken. Afterward, it began to be built as a Roman city and became an important Roman military base. In the second half of the 5th century, Segovia became part of the Visigoth Empire. From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Segovia was under Moorish possession. In 1085 Alfonso VI conquered the city. From the 13th to the 15th century it was a royal residence. San Lorenzo has undergone various alterations throughout its history. The erection of the one nave church in the Romanesque-Mudejar style started in the 12th century and like most Romanesque churches in Segovia, San Lorenzo has an interesting portico. The capitals are a little weathered. Not surprisingly, the medieval artists focused here on the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.

A Celtic castle existed here, from which resistance against the Romans originated. The city was nevertheless taken. Afterward, it began to be built as a Roman city and became an important Roman military base. In the second half of the 5th century, Segovia became part of the Visigoth Empire. From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Segovia was under Moorish possession. In 1085 Alfonso VI conquered the city. From the 13th to the 15th century it was a royal residence. The “Aqueduct of Segovia” is a Roman aqueduct. It was built around the first century AD to bring water from springs in the mountains 17 kilometers away to the city's wells, baths and private homes. It was in use until 1974. It was partially damaged in Moorish times, but the damage was repaired in the 15th century by carefully inserting 36 Gothic pointed arches.

The "Palacio Real La Granja de San Ildefonso" (Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso) is an early 18th-century palace in the small town of San Ildefonso. It is considered the "Spanish Versailles". The area was a favorite hunting ground for many Castilian kings. In the 15th century, Henry IV of Castile built the first hunting lodge on the site, along with a small shrine dedicated to San Ildefonso, which gave this place its first name. It became the summer residence of the Kings of Spain from the 1720s during the reign of King Felipe V. The palace is in a restrained Baroque style, surrounded by extensive gardens in the formal Jardin à la française style with sculptural fountains.

Las Médulas is a historic gold-mining site. that was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire. The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the "ruina montium" (wrecking of the mountains), a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder. The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. In order to bring the required quantities of water from the Sierra de la Cabrera, a canal system over 100 kilometres long was built. Parts of this system are still preserved today. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder, who was a procurator in the region in 74 AD, described the technique of hydraulic mining: "What happens is far beyond the work of giants. The mountains are bored with corridors and galleries made by lamplight with a duration that is used to measure the shifts. For months, the miners cannot see the sunlight and many of them die inside the tunnels. This type of mine has been given the name of ruina montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock. How dangerous we have made the Earth!" Opencast methods would be pursued by fire-setting, which involved building fires against the rock and quenching with water. The weakened rock could then be attacked mechanically and the debris swept away by waves of water. Pliny also stated that 20,000 Roman pounds (6,560 kg) of gold were extracted each year. The exploitation, involving 60,000 workers, brought 5,000,000 Roman pounds (1,640,000 kg) in 250 years.

Las Médulas is a historic gold-mining site. that was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire. The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the "ruina montium" (wrecking of the mountains), a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder. The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. In order to bring the required quantities of water from the Sierra de la Cabrera, a canal system over 100 kilometres long was built. Parts of this system are still preserved today. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder, who was a procurator in the region in 74 AD, described the technique of hydraulic mining: "What happens is far beyond the work of giants. The mountains are bored with corridors and galleries made by lamplight with a duration that is used to measure the shifts. For months, the miners cannot see the sunlight and many of them die inside the tunnels. This type of mine has been given the name of ruina montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock. How dangerous we have made the Earth!" Opencast methods would be pursued by fire-setting, which involved building fires against the rock and quenching with water. The weakened rock could then be attacked mechanically and the debris swept away by waves of water. Pliny also stated that 20,000 Roman pounds (6,560 kg) of gold were extracted each year. The exploitation, involving 60,000 workers, brought 5,000,000 Roman pounds (1,640,000 kg) in 250 years.

Las Médulas is a historic gold-mining site. that was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire. The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the "ruina montium" (wrecking of the mountains), a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder. The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. In order to bring the required quantities of water from the Sierra de la Cabrera, a canal system over 100 kilometres long was built. Parts of this system are still preserved today. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder, who was a procurator in the region in 74 AD, described the technique of hydraulic mining: "What happens is far beyond the work of giants. The mountains are bored with corridors and galleries made by lamplight with a duration that is used to measure the shifts. For months, the miners cannot see the sunlight and many of them die inside the tunnels. This type of mine has been given the name of ruina montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock. How dangerous we have made the Earth!" Opencast methods would be pursued by fire-setting, which involved building fires against the rock and quenching with water. The weakened rock could then be attacked mechanically and the debris swept away by waves of water. Pliny also stated that 20,000 Roman pounds (6,560 kg) of gold were extracted each year. The exploitation, involving 60,000 workers, brought 5,000,000 Roman pounds (1,640,000 kg) in 250 years.

Las Médulas is a historic gold-mining site. that was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire. The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the "ruina montium" (wrecking of the mountains), a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder. The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. In order to bring the required quantities of water from the Sierra de la Cabrera, a canal system over 100 kilometres long was built. Parts of this system are still preserved today. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder, who was a procurator in the region in 74 AD, described the technique of hydraulic mining: "What happens is far beyond the work of giants. The mountains are bored with corridors and galleries made by lamplight with a duration that is used to measure the shifts. For months, the miners cannot see the sunlight and many of them die inside the tunnels. This type of mine has been given the name of ruina montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock. How dangerous we have made the Earth!" Opencast methods would be pursued by fire-setting, which involved building fires against the rock and quenching with water. The weakened rock could then be attacked mechanically and the debris swept away by waves of water. Pliny also stated that 20,000 Roman pounds (6,560 kg) of gold were extracted each year. The exploitation, involving 60,000 workers, brought 5,000,000 Roman pounds (1,640,000 kg) in 250 years.

After the Romans had conquered the place in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) and the area became the largest mining center of the Empire during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. The Romans also imported grapevines. The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil, commissioned in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River to pilgrims in their way to Santiago de Compostela. In 1178, Ferdinand II of León donated the city to the Templar order for protecting the pilgrims on the Way of St. James in their road to Santiago de Compostela. The Castillo de Ponferrada is a former Templar castle. The castle hosted the Knights Templar's Grand Master of Castille. However, the Templars were only able to enjoy the use of their fortress for about twenty years before the order was disbanded and its properties confiscated in 1311. Several noble houses fought over the assets until Alfonso XI allotted them to the Count of Lemos in 1340. Finally, the Catholic Monarchs incorporated Ponferrada and its castle into the Crown in 1486. Ponferrada,

After the Romans had conquered the place in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) and the area became the largest mining center of the Empire during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. The Romans also imported grapevines. The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil, commissioned in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River to pilgrims in their way to Santiago de Compostela. In 1178, Ferdinand II of León donated the city to the Templar order for protecting the pilgrims on the Way of St. James in their road to Santiago de Compostela. The church of Santa María, built at the beginning of the 12th century, was replaced by a new building that was completed in 1670. The name “Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Encina” goes back to the legend of the portrait of the Virgin Mary. The carving is said to have been brought from the Holy Land by Toribio, Bishop of Astorga, and then later hidden from the Moors. Centuries later, Knights Templar found it in an oak tree.

After the Romans had conquered the place in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) and the area became the largest mining center of the Empire during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. The Romans also imported grapevines. The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil, commissioned in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River to pilgrims in their way to Santiago de Compostela. In 1178, Ferdinand II of León donated the city to the Templar order for protecting the pilgrims on the Way of St. James in their road to Santiago de Compostela. The church of Santa María, built at the beginning of the 12th century, was replaced by a new building that was completed in 1670. The name “Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Encina” goes back to the legend of the portrait of the Virgin Mary. The carving is said to have been brought from the Holy Land by Toribio, Bishop of Astorga, and then later hidden from the Moors. Centuries later, Knights Templar found it in an oak tree.

After the Romans had conquered the place in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) and the area became the largest mining center of the Empire during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. The Romans also imported grapevines. The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil, commissioned in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River to pilgrims in their way to Santiago de Compostela. In 1178, Ferdinand II of León donated the city to the Templar order for protecting the pilgrims on the Way of St. James in their road to Santiago de Compostela. The church of Santa María, built at the beginning of the 12th century, was replaced by a new building that was completed in 1670. The name “Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Encina” goes back to the legend of the portrait of the Virgin Mary. The carving is said to have been brought from the Holy Land by Toribio, Bishop of Astorga, and then later hidden from the Moors. Centuries later, Knights Templar found it in an oak tree. The horror of the purgatory

After the Romans had conquered the place in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) and the area became the largest mining center of the Empire during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. The Romans also imported grapevines. The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil, commissioned in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River to pilgrims in their way to Santiago de Compostela. Santo Tomás de las Ollas is located in the suburb of Ponferrada of the same name. There are no documents about the construction of the church. The use of the building material, the horseshoe arches of the apse and other similarities with pre-Romanesque churches suggest that the church can be attributed to Mozarabic architecture of the 10th century. In the Romanesque period the church was changed and the south portal was renewed. At the end of the 17th century, the height of the nave was shortened and a square chapel was built in the north. The bell tower was added in the 18th century and the sacristy was added to the apse in the 19th century.

After the Romans had conquered the place in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) and the area became the largest mining center of the Empire during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. The Romans also imported grapevines. The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil, commissioned in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River to pilgrims in their way to Santiago de Compostela. Santo Tomás de las Ollas is located in the suburb of Ponferrada of the same name. There are no documents about the construction of the church. The use of the building material, the horseshoe arches of the apse and other similarities with pre-Romanesque churches suggest that the church can be attributed to Mozarabic architecture of the 10th century. In the Romanesque period the church was changed and the south portal was renewed. At the end of the 17th century, the height of the nave was shortened and a square chapel was built in the north. The bell tower was added in the 18th century and the sacristy was added to the apse in the 19th century.