Las Médulas

Las Médulas, located in Bierzo, northwest of the Montes Aquilanos and along the valley of the Sil River, is a fantastic landscape resulting from Roman gold mining. This place has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Although no one would say that the steep cliffs hide, beneath their bowels, the gold of the Romans, the mining exploitation silenced for centuries has become a beautiful landscape of great tourist attraction.

Las Médulas is an impressive landscape environment formed as a result of Roman gold mining.Considered the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire, the engineering work that was carried out to extract the gold considerably altered the environment of the area, resulting in an unusual landscape of reddish sand covered with chestnut and oak trees.The large earthworks that followed formed artificial plains that serve as access roads to other areas such as Lake Carucedo, formed in turn by the clogging of a valley with mine waste, and considered a protected wetland.Comfortable shoes, water and a snack are recommended to enjoy the route.

When viewing the rock formations of Las Medulas, it's important to remember that this landscape is not natural, but rather the (sad) remains of a mountain range that was ruthlessly exploited for its gold ore as early as the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, this landscape of ruins is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.A 15-minute film documentary about it (although only available in German) is available in the ARD media library as part of the highly recommended series "Treasures of the World - Heritage of Humanity" =>> zdf.de/swr/schaetze-der-welt/page-video-ard-las-mdulas-und-seine-goldminen-spanien-100.html