Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Regional Park Visitors’ Centre "The Puebla de Lillo Turret".

Just like the rest of the park visitors’ centres, all throughout the region of Castilla and León, this is the recommended access point for these nature areas. At this information centre, monitors will provide information about the Regional Park and help you to plan your visit.

Here, you can find information about the signature species and habitats, to help you identify and appreciate the cultural and natural heritage in a respectful way. It promotes the conservation and appreciation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

The Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Visitors’ Centre is in "The Turret" in the town "Puebla de Lillo", and is dated to the 15th century. This turret witnessed historic conflicts between the Counts of Luna and the Marquis of Astorga, motivated by the control of perks and tributes from this mountainous region. Built from of limestone. It was declared as a site of cultural interest in 1949, and restored in 2004 to host the Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Regional Park Visitors’ Centre.

The Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Regional Park Visitors’ Centre is in the North east of the León province. Together with the ‘Picos de Europa’, they form the most extensive limestone formation in Western Europe. They stand out due to their significant karstic processes and an evident glacial erosion. It has an area of 101,336 hectares.

When you go inside the turret, you will see the reception desk. There you can find information about any part of the Regional Park.

To the right of the entrance, there is an informative panel showing the flora and fauna that you can find in each season in the area. To the left, there are two banners with information on the history of the turret and about the Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Regional Park. Also to the left, there is an old plough, carved in a light coloured wood.

The turret has three floors, with the tour starting on the top floor, where you will find the viewpoint. The stairs are to the left of the desk. Go up to the third floor to start the tour.

Once you get to the top floor, you will be able to enjoy the views from the viewpoint. In the middle of the room there is a topography model of a map which shows the valleys, rivers, towns and peaks in the area.

Puebla de Lillo is in the Porma river valley which runs from the north to the south of the northern part of the León province. They have found various traces which confirm that this region has been inhabited since the Metal Ages, around 6000 years ago. According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute, it had a population of 666 residents in 2022. The most important peak is the Susarón, with an altitude of 1878 metres, and you can see it from this viewpoint.

The panels below the windows show the pain peaks and points of interest that can be seen out the window. They also display different important aspects of the region, such as transhumance, craftwork and mining.

In Spain, transhumance when livestock and shepherds move each season from summer pastures to winter pastures, or vice versa. Sheep in this area are mostly Merino sheep. These moves are done to avoid desertification of the land due to overgrazing. Transhumance is different to nomadism as it relies on permanent seasonal settlements and a main fixed centre, i.e. the town where the practising population is from. In December 2023, seasonal transhumance was named as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

With regards to craftwork, the most known in the area are wood workers, wicker workers and stonemasons. Basketmaking, for example, is one of the oldest human art-forms. It involves using plant strips or fibres to make baskets, hampers and other objects like hats, mats and bread baskets. The oldest records of this art have been dated between 10 and 12 thousand years ago.

Stonemasons mainly extracted limestone, a material widely used in the area for building façades, with this turret being a good example. Alongside the informative panels there are a number of objects and utensils made by these trades.

Mining in this area mainly focuses on limestone, especially talc. Puebla de Lillo had the largest talc deposit in Spain. Talc is a mineral from clay which comes in different colours, such as green, white, grey, yellow or pink. It has diverse uses. It is one of the main ingredients in cosmetics and is also commonly added to drugs like cocaine and heroin. After about 100 years of activity in the talc mines, in 2011 only open air mining was happening, and this also closed shortly afterwards. Depletion of the mineral reserves was the determining factor in closing the mines, Did you know that the miners who working in these mines died very young due to silicosis. This illness originated due to the constant inhalation of talc powder, which contains silica.

Next, go down to the floor below.

One you’re on the second floor, you will see tall informative panels in front of you. The first on the left explain two areas of the Reserve: the Pardomino forest and the Lillo pine forest.

The Pardomino forest is a mixed forest. The main characteristic of these forests is their botanical variety, they are equally made up of deciduous trees and perennial trees. This means that, throughout the different seasons, you can see a spectacular diversity of the colours, with brown, red, yellow, orange and green trees. In this forest specifically, there are oak trees, beech, holly and ash.

The Lillo pine forest, as its name states, is made up of native European red pine. In contrast with the Paradomino forest, it is always green because pine trees do not lose their leaves. These pine trees are considered native as they were not planted by people, but this pine tree is one of the last traces of the vegetation that was present in the area before the last glaciation.

A large variety of fauna lives there, such as Cantabrian capercaillie, brown bear and common reed bunting, among others.

Common reed bunting are galliform birds. They are distinguishes by their dark grey plumage with black around their head and neck. They have a long rounded tail, an off-white beak and a red mark above their eyes. This species is at critical risk of extinction. In 2022 their population was estimated at less than 300. The main factors that contribute to their extinction is deterioration, loss and fragmentation of their natural habitat.

The lower part of the panels has a small display with representations of faeces from different animals. Investigators use the faeces to mark out where the different species are and to determine the main foods in their diet. This area of study is called coprology.

There is also a graphic representation of how animals’ conduct and behaviour varies in different seasons, like the periods of hibernation some mammals and amphibians have.

Hibernation is a lethargy state which some animals go into during the winter months. During this time, these animals’ metabolism slows down significantly and their body temperature and breathing rate are lower than normal. During hibernation, they use the energy reserves they have stored in their bodies during the warmer months. This phenomenon is more noticeable in warm-blooded animals like brown bears, but cold-blooded animals also do it. Not all animals use the same hibernation methods. It depends on what type of blood they have, as well as other characteristics.

The glass display has representations of different animal faeces, such as wild boar, common reed bunting and red deer. Investigators use the faeces to mark out where the different species are and to determine the main foods in their diet. This area of study is called coprology.

Continue and look at the next panels, right in front of the ones you have just looked at. They show a number of images that show a huge variety of mountain landscapes in this area.

The chamois is the archetypal animal in this area. It is a herbivorous mammal, similar to a goat. They have short and robust legs, hooves designed for climbing and a dense greyish-brown coat which allows them to camouflage with their environment. They are social creatures that move in herds in search of mountain pasture. These herds can be composed of only males, which occasionally go around on their own, or only females with their young. They only meet during mating season. Their main predators are bears, wolves and lynx.

On another, images show the crack was forming during the process of extracting resin, also known as bleeding. This process consists of making a deep cut in the tree trunk to allow resin to seep out and be collected. Resin worker was a common job in mountain communities during most of the last season. However, the appearance of new production techniques and the use of modern materials have made this profession obsolete.

Continue the tour towards the staircase leading down, until you get to the next panels. On the left there are panels which show the geological processes which the region has gone through over the years. The main moulding factors have been the ice and the rain.

The melting of the glaciers which covered these mountains 20,000 years ago had eroded the land, splitting the rocks and sculpting the landscape, resulting in the appearance it has nowadays. This melting also led to lakes emerging, such as the Isoba lake and Ausente lake, which are both of glacial origin. This moulding caused by ice and glaciers is known as periglaciation.

The Isoba lake is in the well-known Vega Fonda, near the town of Isoba. It is a small lake, with a circumference of approximately 400 metres and is reaches about 5 metres deep.

The Ausente lake is on the edge of the Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Regional Park.

Rain water also has a lot of power to mould. It erodes and wears away at the rocks, creating valleys, canyons, river courses, cavities and ravines.

There are a lot of karstic landscapes in this landscape. This landscape was formed by water eroding rocks made of water-soluble minerals. The formation of karstic landscapes can create diverse characteristics to different scales, both on the surface and underground. These characteristics include from striations and tunnels to sinkholes, cenotes and vertical wells.

The lower part of the panels has a display with rocks to identify different types that can be found in the area, such as limestone, sandstone or slate. All three are sedimentary rocks, which means they are formed due to the accumulation and solidification of sediments over time.

The last panels, in front of the ones you just looked at, have images of valleys in the area, as well as the fauna and flora they host. Among this fauna, there is a huge variety of birds: both diurnal, like storks and eagles, and nocturnal, like owls.

Storks are huge birds with a mainly white and black plumage. They migrate over huge distances and spend winter in Africa. One strange thing about them is that they are monogamous and mate for life.

Eagles are quintessential birds of prey. They have a large, strong pointed beak, made to be able to rip meat from their prey. They also have large and powerful talons which allows them to fly with much heavier prey. They also have impressively sharp vision. The diverse species and sub-species of Eagles can be found pretty much all over the world, except in Antarctica.

Owls are mid-sized nocturnal birds of prey. They do not migrate. They are characterised by their disc-shaped face. Their large wings allow them to fly silently when searching for prey. They have binocular vision which makes them look to the sides, giving the impression that they twist their heard the whole way around.

Another one of the images captures one of the characteristic products of transhumance: bothies.

Bothies are refuges made with a roof made from broom plants and stone, they were built both in open mountain areas and in forests, on barren land or pastures. This refuge was used by transhumant shepherds, to sleep alongside their sheep or protect themselves from adverse climatic conditions. They are circular with a conical roof to prevent rainwater from leaking in. Bothies were a common resource for transhumant shepherds and goat herders in Spain.

Go down to the first floor and continue.

The last floor of the visit has an ethnographic museum. To the right there are numerous utensils, tools and implements which were handmade decades ago and are no longer in use. In the centre of the room there are more objects and tools from the past on display. All of these tools were handmade decades ago and have been donated to the Visitors’ centre by residents from the area.

The banners that cover the walls have information and stories from residents in the area. They narrate the way of life for people in the region almost a century ago. In Puebla de Lillo, the main sources of income were mining and livestock, so many residents were miners or shepherds.

One of the highlighted stories is from Catalina García González, the first woman to get a vehicle for hire licence. Catalina drove the route between Boñar, Puebla de Lillo and Cofiñal. This journey started by carriage, as the first car did not appear until 1925. Catalina was a beloved and respected resident, known for her pioneering and daring spirit.

You can also enjoy live testimony from one of these people in the documentary that can be played on the two monitors in the middle of the room. The documentary lasts 12 minutes.

Next, go down to the ground floor to finish the tour.

This audio track ends your visit to the Riaño and Mampodre Mountain Regional Park Visitors’ Centre "The Puebla de Lillo Turret", where you have learned a little more about the landscapes, flora and fauna in the region, as well as how the area’s residents live.

If you wish to receive more information, go to the reception desk or consult any of the visitors’ centres employees.

Thanks for your visit.