Las Médulas
Camino de Invierno
Las Médulas is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most extraordinary landscapes in Spain. It was the largest gold mine of the Roman Empire — and what you see now are the guts of what used to be hills. By channeling water through progressively narrower tunnels, the Romans generated enough pressure to blow open entire mountains and extract the gold within. The result, two millennia later, is a spectacular, eerie landscape of deep-red cliffs, pinnacles, and valleys threaded with wooded pathways.
The village has two tourist information centers, accommodation, a cash machine, bars, a grocery store near the lavadero, and restaurants geared toward weekend visitors. The small museum is worth a visit. The visitors' centers are open every day; the galleries close on Tuesdays.
The absolute best viewpoint is the Mirador de Orellán. The shortest way to get there is via the Hotel Agoga complex — take the road on the LEFT side of the complex to reach the pedestrian path through chestnut forest. Beyond the mirador, you can walk through one of the Roman galleries. Don't miss it.
For food, Bar Reigo, Taberna Romana, O Camiño Real, and Restaurante Marif are all options. O Camiño Real gets consistently high reviews. Some places close out of tourist season, and on Tuesdays many are shut.
The Roman gold mining operation at Las Médulas peaked in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The technique, known as ruina montium, used aqueducts running hundreds of kilometers to deliver water to the mine site. The environmental destruction was immense — Pliny the Elder described it with a mixture of awe and horror. An estimated 1,600 tons of gold were extracted over the mine's lifetime. The abandoned landscape has since been reclaimed by nature, creating the strange and beautiful terrain you see today.
Leave Las Médulas on a tractor path on the western edge of town through wooded hills. There's a possible short detour to the left (about 500 m) to a mirador with good views back over Las Médulas — not as spectacular as Orellán but still worthwhile.
Despite a sign claiming Puente de Domingo Flórez is 5.7 km away, it's actually closer to 8 km. The camino descends along a mountain lane with fine views. The grade, surface, and views are excellent all the way down.
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