Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the Las Médulas Natural Monument Park House.

This audio guide is divided into audio clips with the information related to the different rooms. The end of each clip is marked by a sound like the one you will hear now, with just one to move on to the information in the next clip:

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And two for a change of room. [SOUND DEMO] [SOUND DEMO]

You can choose to move on to the next audio clip after the sound.

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As with the other park houses located all over the region of Castile and Leon, this is the recommended gateway to these natural areas. You will be given information about the Natural Monument in this interpretation centre and help with planning your visit.

It provides information on iconic species and habitats to help you identify and appreciate the cultural and natural heritage in these places in a respectful way, and by doing so foster the conservation and appreciation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

The House is located in the municipality of Carucedo, in the region of El Bierzo. El Bierzo is an area located in the western part of the province of León, in the region of Castile and Leon. Its geography is based around several valleys in the Sil river basin.

With a mild Mediterranean microclimate due to a combination of Atlantic and continental Mediterranean climates, Bierzo has an average annual rainfall of less than 730 litres per square metre, and an average temperature of 12.3 °C. The region initially focused on mining and industry, but the last coal mine closed in 2018. The food and agriculture sector, with products bearing the Bierzo Denomination of Origin, is the driving force in the local economy today.

The House occupies a single-storey building, with façades and roof covered with black slate tiles. In front of the main façade, there is a hollow metallic "M", which is a sign providing information about Las Médulas, a protected natural area. This information includes details about its settlements and places, the size, population, and the protection status of the natural monument.

Passing through the slatted grey gate, you will enter a hallway where you will find a multi-purpose room on the right, which is completely glazed. Walking down the corridor, you reach a terrace created by the slate walls of the building and an iron railing on the front and the right. On the left wall of the terrace, there is a panel with three texts:

The first reads: "Las Médulas, air, water, fire and earth".

The second reads: "Recorrido expositivo" [Exhibition visit], and points the way on floor 1 of the building. Just below it is a floor plan of the ground floor.

The last one reads: "Nature trapped, solutions for construction in the building". This building is partially underground, with the entrance to the first floor from street level, and with the ground floor at the rear.

You will find the entrance to the house on the next façade of the building. Next to this door, there is a pedestal attached to the façade which contains a plan in relief and Braille of the interior of the Las Médulas Park House. It provides detailed numbering and information for the two floors inside.

Opposite the front railing, there is a ledge that holds three information panels: "Carucedo Lake, a lake of legends", "Overview of the lake" and "From the eel to the largemouth bass".

Now go to the entrance.

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Go through the double wooden door to an entrance that is separated from the foyer by another double glass door. You will find yourself in a long and spacious room. If you go in an anticlockwise direction, you will find the reception area diagonally to the right, where the Park House staff will assist you and help you plan your visit.

At the end of the display on the left is a relief model of the main archaeological site at Las Médulas. On top of the model is a map of the Natural Monument with an inner area highlighted in yellow, which is the relief presentation of the model.

At the end of the counter there is a corridor that runs to the back of the room, formed by a white zigzag wall that houses the green store, where you can buy typical local products or a souvenir of your visit.

To the left of this corridor, there is a tunnel-shaped ramp with wooden planks showing silhouettes of daily life in the gold mine, which takes you down to the next level of the exhibition area.

On the left wall, between the ramp and the entrance door to the house, the administration area is behind a wooden door and another door provides access to a temporary exhibition area.

Stand with your back to the glass door leading to this spacious lobby.

The Las Médulas Natural Monument is part of Castile and Leon's Network of Protected Natural Spaces, abbreviated to "REN", and is possibly the least natural of them all, because the landscape we see today originated from the mining undertaken by the Romans, beginning in the first century AD. However, at the same time nature itself has contributed to regenerating the landscape, in a gradual and steady process that began after the mine was abandoned in the early third century AD.

Your visit to the Las Médulas Park House is organised based on three colours that accompany and guide visitors during their visit:

Green is associated with the rhythm of nature, orange represents the workings of the Roman mine, and red represents the pace of technological progress.

Although these three rhythms seem to be different, they are sometimes more similar than might be thought, as you will discover from the information provided by the panels and videos.

The visit will focus on the relationship between humans and the physical environment, as well as its consequences, which will enable you to understand the environment from the perspective of sustainability.

Stand at the beginning of the ramp and before going down, compare the image on the left with the image at the bottom of the ramp. It shows the Aquilian Mountains before and after the Romans. The difference between the two images shows the consequences of man's actions for the environment, and during your visit you will find the answer and understand how each of our actions has a specific effect on the environment.

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As you go down, imagine that you are entering one of the tunnels in the mine of Las Médulas, descending to the lower level while you listen to some of the phrases that Pliny the Elder wrote in his "Historia Naturalis" to describe Las Médulas and the system the Romans used to extract gold. These phrases are also reproduced on the walls of this ramp. The loudspeakers in the upper beams of this wooden passage play sounds related to the tasks carried out in the mine.

There are photographs of the mining tunnels on the left hand side as you go down. On the right, the panels between the boards show Roman soldiers supervising the indigenous Astures who worked in the mine.

When you reach the end of the ramp, stop in front of the photograph that shows one of the most typical and well-known images of this place.

When the Romans arrived, they saw that the indigenous inhabitants, the Astures, collected the gold that the river carried due to the mountain's natural erosion. They decided to undertake mining on an almost industrial scale, which led to one of the most important civil engineering projects in the Roman world.

The system they used was known as "Ruina Montium" ("wrecking of mountains" in Latin). They dug tunnels in the mountains and channelled water from the Sil and Cabrera river basins, and even from the Duero river basin, using a system of canals. This pressurised water literally "burst open" the mountains, causing them to collapse and creating the unmistakable reddish peaks that are typical of the Las Médulas landscape. After being washed in the search for gold, earth and sand accumulated at the bottom of a valley which has since disappeared, as it closed up and Lake Carucedo was created.

The Las Médulas region is said to be a cultural landscape arising from man's intervention in the physical environment for this reason.

We now invite you to reflect on those changes and transformations.

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Go to the next panel, titled "Las Médulas, a landscape created by overexploitation". It is an interactive panel where you have to compare the rhythms with the territories: the rhythm of nature, in green, the slowest of them all; the rhythm of human beings in Las Médulas, shown in orange; and finally, the pace of today, marked in dark red.

The landscape undergoes major transformations, with the disappearance of mountains, the formation of valleys and the creation of tunnels. However, there are different rhythms or speeds within this transformation. Humans have changed the environment around them throughout history, speeding up processes involving erosion, transport and sedimentation, in a similar way to natural geological agents.

This panel compares nature's ability to transform the landscape with that of man in Roman times and in today's society. A series of interactive questions helps visitors to discover whether human action, in both the past and present, can be compared with the work of nature.

For example, two questions arise: "What are the 1,228 hectares that were changed in the area around Las Médulas over about 200 years compared to the 530,000 hectares that Hurricane Katrina devastated in just 10 days?" And another question: "When do you think there have been the most people living in this area? In Roman times, when gold mining was operating at full capacity, or in the present day?"

The second panel shows the population in prehistoric and Roman times and the population today. This is an interactive display. The indicators showing the number of inhabitants in each case light up when you press the buttons for each period.

The next panel compares the number of kilometres a wolf travels every day, the construction of Roman roads in kilometres per year, and the construction of modern roads.

The next panel presents three bottles coloured orange, green and red. Each one represents the amount of water moved by nature, in Roman times and in a modern mine.

The last panel asks "What for?" Two urns contain ingots representing the gold mined by the Romans - 22 kilograms per year, and in the modern Malakoff mine - 302.2 kilograms per year.

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Now move on to the next panel, which focuses on traditional trades, characterised by a slow pace, in harmony and balanced with nature.

For more than two thousand years, the inhabitants of Las Médulas and the surrounding area engaged in agricultural and livestock farming activities that do not differ greatly from those practised today. These traditional trades, which adapt to nature's rhythms, the seasons, the landscape of the slopes and the local species, have a reasonable impact on the landscape, consciously modifying it.

This is a large white panel with several screens, each with their own title. The title of the first screen is "Fishing".

Historically, the people living near Lake Carucedo took advantage of the plentiful fish in its waters to supplement their diet or to earn some additional income. Eels used to be caught in the lake, while nases were caught in the nearby streams.

There are no eels here anymore. Do you know why? When they reach maturity, the eels head to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce and die in the process. After a very long journey, their offspring, the highly valued elvers, try to reach the freshwater areas where they grew up in order to mature and become eels. However, the dams that have been constructed prevent them from swimming upstream and reaching these areas, and this is something that has happened in many of Spain's rivers.

On this screen you will see an audiovisual presentation of a fisherman using a Masoira net to catch eels. You can find an example on a panel opposite the screen. It is an ingenious funnel-shaped device with a double-bottomed net and fastened with wicker, elm or chestnut rings at various points between the mouth and the end, which closes like a sack. The eel enters the mouth of the net, and is funnelled into the sack at the end.

These techniques are no longer feasible because they are not selective, as they capture all the species caught in the nets.

Interestingly, many houses in the area have cellars that contain wells that are used to preserve eels and keep them fresh for a longer period of time.

Trout, which are now rare, used to be common in this area, and so was the native crayfish, which is endangered due to the introduction of the American crayfish. New species such as the carp and largemouth bass have also been introduced, fundamentally altering the composition of the lake's fish species and leading to the loss of its natural assets. As a result, the lake is now simply a venue for recreational and leisure activities.

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Move on to the next screen, titled "The mountains". This screen talks about the Aquilian Mountains. Below the screen, there is an interactive display with wheels showing the different activities undertaken in the mountains.

Las Médulas are located at the western end of the Aquilian Mountains, which have a Mediterranean climate with a strong Atlantic influence. This region has a wealth of flora, including species typically found in Mediterranean forests, such as cork oaks, holm oaks and the Pyrenean oak. The ash, poplar, alder and willow trees typical of riparian forests are also found here. There are extensive areas of scrubland at the higher altitudes, consisting of rock roses, brooms and heathers, among other species. However, the tree that is emblematic of this area is the chestnut.

Some endemic plants, i.e., those that are only found in very specific locations and are associated with limestone soils, are particularly interesting. These species are in danger of extinction, and as such it is necessary to ensure they are preserved by policies involving monitoring, care and control. They include: petrocoptis grandiflora, petrocoptis viscosa and geranium dolomiticum.

Whether they are natural or cultivated, forests are essential for regulating the water cycle, preventing soil erosion and producing oxygen, among other general benefits. The forest also provides valuable resources for the inhabitants of the area.

Spinning the green wheel shows that the forest provides firewood for heating, roasting chestnuts and smoking sausages and cured meats. It also supplies various types of wood for manufacturing furniture and agricultural tools, as well as wild fruits and berries, medicinal and aromatic plants, tasty mushrooms and acorns for feeding animals.

And of course, the varied flora contributes to the excellent quality of the honey traditionally produced in this area by placing beehives in the forest.

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Move on to the next screen, titled "Chestnut Trees".

Today's Las Médulas landscape is the result of human intervention and the various ways in which the land has been exploited. Among the species introduced for productive purposes, chestnut is the most typical of the region, although it was present in this area at the end of the Tertiary era and withstood glaciations, as evidenced by an analysis of fossilised pollen.

The Romans appear to have encouraged its cultivation and exploitation in this area, since chestnuts were an essential part of their legions' diet, because they are contain many calories and can be consumed in various ways, including raw, cooked, roasted and in stews. Even dried chestnuts can be ground into chestnut flour and used for baking. For these reasons, the chestnut was the cornerstone of the diet in the north of the Iberian Peninsula until the arrival of products from America such as corn and potatoes. Its outstanding gastronomic value has been recognised with the "El Bierzo Chestnut" quality hallmark.

In addition to being a source of food, chestnut trees provide wood for manufacturing furniture, beams for construction and for making carts. Its bark is also used in basketry. In the display case behind you, you can see various typical products made from the chestnut tree.

Have you ever heard of the "magosto"? It is a traditional festival in the El Bierzo region, although it is also celebrated in other areas including Zamora, Galicia, Cáceres and Portugal. This celebration, which possibly has pagan origins related to rituals of gratitude to the forest and the earth for the harvests received, usually takes place in the autumn, and generally in November, after the chestnuts, the central theme of the festival, have been harvested. The chestnuts are roasted on a bonfire and enjoyed in the company of family and friends, accompanied by locally produced wine, and folk dances and songs.

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Now move on to the next screen, which focuses on the vineyards and wine of El Bierzo.

A sign under the screen reads:

"On the other side of the river

my father has a vineyard,

he doesn't prune or dig it

but he does harvest it."

Normally, "soutos" or chestnut plantations are on shady, north-facing slopes, while sunny south-facing slopes are covered with vineyards.

We know that the Astures, this region's first inhabitants, consumed wine, which suggests that they cultivated and maintained vineyards. However, it was the Romans, attracted by the gold of Las Médulas when they settled here, who significantly increased the cultivation of vines. Later, in the Middle Ages, the monasteries that sprang up along the Santiago Pilgrim Route contributed to the increase in land given over to cultivating vines.

After the devastation caused by phylloxera, which decimated the native vines at the end of the nineteenth century, the wine cooperatives of El Bierzo began producing high quality wines in the 1960s. These wines received the hallmark of the El Bierzo Wines Denomination of Origin in 1989.

Only certain permitted varieties of grape were used to produce them - mainly Mencía, a red grape, and Doña Blanca and Godello, which are white grapes. The grape skins were also used to produce pomace liquor. However, the distillation of this spirit at home is prohibited for health reasons, and wine production in the Las Médulas area is limited to a few family wineries that make wine exclusively for family consumption, as shown in the video screened here.

This production includes cuturrús, a herbal liqueur based on the typical pomace found in the region.

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Move on to the next screen dedicated to agriculture, which reads "cereal in the mountains, animals with labels and orchards in the meadows".

Subsistence agriculture, in which humans struck a balance with nature without overexploiting the soil and its natural resources, was practiced in this region until the 1950s.

The Mediterranean climate in the region, with two months of drought in summer, was suitable for cultivating vines and cereals. Rye was grown in less fertile soils, using a fallow system that involved leaving fields free of crops for a year. In richer soils, wheat was alternated with leguminous plants such as alfalfa and carobs, which help to improve the soil's quality. Oats and barley to feed livestock were also grown.

Vegetable gardens were created in the areas around human settlements, and continued to be one of the cornerstones in people's nutrition. These vegetable gardens produced tomatoes, lettuce, pumpkins, courgettes, peppers, potatoes, leeks and cabbage, among other foodstuffs.

Draught animals, such as mules, horses, oxen and cows, played an essential role in traditional agriculture, and were also used as a source of meat and milk. However, the most important domestic animal was the pig. Fed on garden produce and leftover food, the pig provided a significant source of protein. Smoke-cured sausages such as chorizos, salchichones and El Bierzo's famous "botillo" were made after the slaughter. Loins and hams were also salted, providing a stock of food all year round.

Other animals commonly found in houses were hens, rabbits, goats and sheep.

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Stand under the wooden porticoes on the right, where the impact of industrial development and slate quarries in Las Médulas is discussed.

Inside the gateway are pole signs displaying photographs related to construction, roads, waste and quarries. One covers natural and cultural heritage, while the other focuses on forests; the third one deals with quarries, and the fourth covers aquatic ecosystems. As well as the pole signs, there is a screen on another table showing images related to the park, human activities and their environmental impact. Opposite them is a table with photograph albums dedicated to Las Médulas.

Since the mid-twentieth century, the changes linked to scientific progress have left a deep mark on the Las Médulas region, and substantially reshaped the local landscape. Industrial development, which led to mass migration to urban areas and to age-old practices and trades being abandoned, also fostered industry and mining, intensified agriculture and led to the construction of new infrastructures and communication routes, rapidly altering the natural fabric.

The table at the end of the ramp shows the changes that the area of Las Médulas has undergone since the middle of the nineteenth century, as described by Pascual Madoz in 1850 in his Historical Geographical-Statistical Dictionary of Spain. It contains images of new structures, such as roads, dams and reservoirs, captured on aerial photographs from the late 1950s and 2008.

Move on towards the white items on display in the centre of the room. The effects of industry on nature are presented here, including quarrying for slate, earthworks associated with the construction of a motorway, and waste management.

Despite the negative impacts, science and technology also provide resources to mitigate these effects and improve the environment, preserving it for future generations. There are photographic panels on the table presented the choice between sustainable practices and a responsible future, in contrast to an aggressive attitude towards nature, focused solely on obtaining economic benefits without considering the possible consequences of those actions.

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Now move on to the adjoining section of this wooden structure, adjacent to the staircase between the different levels caused by the descent of the ramp. In this area, you will find some irregularly shaped benches that evoke the typical Las Médulas landscape. Opposite these benches, there is a screen showing a video highlighting the importance of raising awareness of the need to adopt a responsible attitude.

Human activity in the exploitation of natural resources has become a major environmental concern, with various consequences including climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, desertification and deterioration of the oceans. This video seeks to highlight the potentially devastating effects of human action on the landscape, while offering an optimistic outlook for a better future.

The need to work to preserve and respect the environment is obvious. The solution could lie in the recovery of species and the reforestation of degraded habitats, restoring the environment and fostering a sustainable economy that preserves biodiversity.

Head for the stairs when the screening ends.

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The visit continues on the upper floor.

On the wall that shows the difference in heights, there are wide stripes in green, orange and red along the adjacent staircase, presenting various phrases related to sustainability. When you reach the lobby level, a space opens up to the left, which is protected by a metal railing that separates it from the staircase leading up.

Inside, there is a series of blocks that address issues related to sustainability and safety networks. Each block symbolises a concept that must be combined with the others to build a sustainable structure. Each concept is important both individually and for the collective, and they interact with each other to form larger groups and convey an idea of globality.

When building your house, you would be sure to choose the materials carefully and work carefully to make everything perfect. Planet Earth should also be treated as our home, and we should work to make it an increasingly habitable and sustainable place.

If you continue to the wall on the left in this area, there are several pennants showing some of the protected areas in Castile and Leon, where there are other centres like this one that you can visit. The pennants have a sign which reads "A natural space visits us", which displays photographs with themes including Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Gold and Life.

Next to the metal railing, there are two screens with interactive games called "Design your world".

The limits on natural resources, the effect of small changes in our daily routines for a more habitable planet and the need for a sustainable quality of life are concepts that although they seem like common sense, are not always universally understood.

The idea that attacks on the environment do not recognise any borders and the importance of caring for the earth highlight the world's interconnectedness and our shared responsibility for the environment. The call to engage in more responsible consumption suggests an awareness of our everyday choices and their impact on the world.

The central concept of sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. The difficulty lies in balancing these objectives with sometimes conflicting interests, and especially economic ones. Mahatma Gandhi summarised this very well when he said: "the world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed."

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Approach the back wall, made of wood, which is the back of the reception area.

A panel on this wall tells you about safety networks: the Network of Natural Spaces, the Natura 2000 Network, Castile and Leon's Network of Protected Natural Spaces, and World Heritage Sites.

The Las Médulas Natural Monument is part of Castile and Leon's Network of Protected Natural Spaces, although it is probably the least natural of them all, as the transformation of the environment and the creation of the landscape we see today is the result of human activity. For this reason, it is also part of Castile and Leon's Network of Protected Natural Spaces, which seeks to protect and enhance the value of places like this one - the largest gold mine in the Roman Empire.

Las Médulas has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997 due to the area's importance as a landmark in ancient mining and its exceptional status as an example of the transformation of the region.

This audio clip concludes your visit to the Las Médulas Park House.

To leave the House, head towards the corridor formed by the right wall, which on the other side is the ramp to the mine, and the zigzagging wall at the side of the reception area.

If you would like more information, please contact the reception desk or ask any of the staff at the Park House.

Thank you for your visit.