Las Medulas - Roman gold mines in Leon

Northern Spain is filled with marvellous sights: medieval villages, castles and churches, mountains and gorges; the list is never-ending.

One of the most unusual is Las Medulas, on the border of Galicia and Leon. These bright orange, pointed peaks are the remains of mountains which were hydraulically blown apart by the Romans in search of gold in the 100-300AD.  Being the biggest mines in the entire Roman Empire, they became a Uniesco World Heritage site in 1997.

View of Las Medulas from the Mirador (viewpoint) in Orellan

The peaks you see are what is left of one massive mountain. The Romans conscripted thousands of locals to dig tunnels into the mountain by hand, which were then filled with water channelled from the surrounding mountains.  The water pressure then blasted the side of the mountain off.  The rocks were washed to filter the gold.  It is estimated that 1,650,000 kg of gold was collected.

There's not much to the village of Las Medulas - a handful of restaurants, and a few little shops selling local produce.   We parked next to the Museum but didn't go in as we had the guided tour booked (3€).   If you speak Spanish, I highly recommend doing the guided tour before you go to the mirador, without which you can't fully understand what you are seeing. Otherwise go to the museum, or read up about the system the Romans used.
There are tours at 11.30, 12.00 and 17.00.  Book by phone as they require a minimum of 6 for a tour. 

It is an easy 2km walk around the base which lasts 2 hours as the excellent guide stops to explain in detail lots of info about the mines, the ancient people, the plants and wonderful chestnut trees.  Most of the walk is in the shade, so although it was 30 degrees, it was comfortable.  Trainers are perfectly suitable for the path.  (I wore hiking sandals.)  There are an awful lot of flies however, so a hat was handy if only the bat the buggars away!  

Maps showing the hiking routes are available from the visitors centre.  If you don't fancy the guided walk, they routes are well signposted. From the guided walk, the strong-legged can climb up to the viewpoint in Orellan, but it is a very steep, 900m, rocky climb.

We drove to Orellan (5kms) to visit the Galeria, which is where you can go inside the tunnels and view the mountains from the mouth.  It is dark  and atmospheric inside. The ground is uneven and rocky; a helmet is provided to protect your head from possible bangs on the ceiling, which is very low at some points and you have to crouch in places to get past. 
Opens 11 - 1.45 and 4 - 7.45pm.  Cost 4€. 

The Mirador viewpoint is right next to the Galeria and is free.  You have to park in the car park and it is a fairly steep 200m walk up to the Mirador.

Left:  The view from the gallery shows the lines of horizontal tunnels which were hand cut by locals conscripted into work by the Romans.



Orellan village is a lovely sleepy hamlet consisting of a handful of little houses.  We stayed in Hotel Lagar de las Medulas.  Note that after 830pm there is nowhere to eat or have a drink in Orellan.  

In Las Medulas, although there are a handful of restaurants, they don't stay open late. We were there at 10pm and everything was closed except for one great little bar in a wooden hut. 

Lagar de las Medulas, Orellan

From Las Medulas we headed to la Herreria de Compludo, south east of Ponferrada, which we had seen advertised in the information centre.   It was fabulous.  Hierro is Spanish for iron.  This is a 19th century forge, powered using water channelled from the river. The guide who runs it is the great grandson of the original owner.  He explains the history of the forge, shows you how it works, including melting iron and how the huge hammer is powered by the water wheel.  The explanation is in Spanish but it is fascinating to watch.  The visit costs 4€ and lasts about 45 mins.  Open 11:00 - 14:00, 16:00 - 20:00 but you must be there about 45 mins before closing as it is about 10 mins walk from the carpark and the last visit is half and hour before closing.  Note that the door is locked while visits are in progress.

Compludo village is a lovely medieval village with a bar and a restaurant.

Compludo

In conclusion,  the area of El Bierzo and the border of Galicia is one of outstanding natural beauty, delicious wines, rife with history and relatively untouched by tourism.  We had a marvellous weekend!