Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the Palace of Quiñones, the Babia and Luna Natural Park House.

As with the other park houses located all over the community of Castile and Leon, it is the recommended gateway to these natural areas. Environmental monitors and educators welcome, inform and convey to visitors the area's many and surprising natural and ethnographic assets.

The Babia and Luna Park House occupies the former residential building of the Palace of Quiñones, an outstanding cultural monument dating back to the sixteenth century. The property, purchased by the Castile and Leon Regional Government in 1999, consists of a main building with a three-story tower on the north side, a courtyard with a garden surrounded by a wall, a small outbuilding, a chapel and some recently restored warehouses.

The palace underwent refurbishment that transformed the residential floors into open-plan exhibition spaces after it was purchased. The Quiñones coat of arms is in the centre of the south façade. Originally built in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the entire interior structure of the palace and much of the façade were restored in the 1970s by Fernando Geijo, a resident of Riolago, after a fire that had devastated the building in 1915.

The square and the surrounding area were designated a Historic Site in 1995 by the Castile and Leon Regional Government's Ministry for Education and Culture.

The facilities at the site are original, creative and educational, and designed in a way that is integrated with the building's architecture. They respect the interior structure and the width of the spaces to achieve an aesthetic harmony between the exhibition and the architectural structure.

Enter the reception area of the Park House to begin your visit. The garden and the rest of the buildings that make up the Palace will be behind you.

Lying on the grass in the garden is a sculpture of a mastiff, the symbol of the house.

Next to the reception desk, you will find the Green Store, where you can buy typical products of the area or a souvenir of your visit.

Next to it, there is a model of the Babia and Luna Natural Park, accompanied by a map of the area, showing the geomorphology of the area with its valleys and rivers.

The Babia and Luna Natural Park is an outstanding example of the ecosystems in the Cantabrian Mountain Range, with peaks of geological, ecological and scenic interest, such as the imposing limestone massif of Peña Ubiña, the Picos Albos and Peña Orniz, and the Alto de la Cañada hills. Its rich vegetation, influenced by changes in the topography and geology of the mountains, includes high mountain communities, peat bogs, wetlands and unusual savin junipers, which are home to unique endemic species. This diversity of plants means there is a wide range of fauna biotopes and abundant wildlife, including the increasingly strong presence of the Cantabrian brown bear and a high level of ornithological interest with major populations of alpine birds. Its geographical location plays a key role in the overall protection provided by the Cantabrian Mountains and in the links between the various massifs, contributing to the ecological processes that take place in the region. The area also has a significant historical and cultural value, as it bore witness to important events in the history of the kingdoms of Asturias and Leon. The Natural Park covers the same area as the San Emiliano Valley Natura 2000 Network Protected Area and the Babia Biosphere Reserve, and part of the Omaña and Luna Valleys Biosphere Reserve recognised by UNESCO.

You can also enter the Temporary Exhibition Hall from the reception area.

Go up to the top floor to begin your visit and learn about the main characteristics of the two regions that make up the Natural Park: Babia and Luna.

Its rugged and abrupt landscape, lashed by intense winds and lacking springs, makes the high mountain an environment that is only suitable for the strongest. The vegetation seems to have adapted, leaning back and consisting of shrubs growing near the ground, as well as extensive areas of grassland. The few shelters between the lofty peaks include lakes, lagoons and peat bogs, which give the landscape with its own particular characteristics.

The vegetation in the high mountains includes brooms, blueberries and creeping junipers.

On the right side of the panel, you can press a button that will turn it on and give you further information on the vegetation growing between the stones. Although they may seem inanimate from a distance, many interesting plant communities find refuge among the rocks in a very unstable environment.

Throughout the visit, you will find black panels with white letters that have been written by Pablo Andrés Escapa specifically for this Park House.

Pablo Andrés Escapa was born in Villaseca de Laciana, in the province of Leon. He is a writer and he is currently librarian at the Royal Library of the Royal Palace in Madrid, where he is head of Publications and Access to Research.

This panel shows the erosive power of glaciers, and how they shaped the landscape in the past.

These lands of Babia and Luna are glacial in origin, as is apparent in the gentle U-shaped valleys, peat bogs and moraines.

In the interactive display you can see how a glacier sweeps away some pine trees in its path. The trees were about 30 metres tall, but the glacier was more than 10 times taller.

On the wheel, you can find information about four of the imprints left by glaciers: lagoons, like lake Mata and lake Chao in Riolago; moraines, which are large ridges; cirques, which were deposits of ice; and peatlands, which are small areas of moss and other plants associated with damp environments.

Look out of the window. In the distance there are some imposing mountains, where you can see the difference in the composition of the rocks in the mountains. Those on the right are a light grey colour with darker ridges in front, showing the composition of the rock and the type of vegetation that may grow on it.

Fossils of corals and shells have been found in this area, which are proof that before these mountains were formed, the area was covered by a shallow sea which contained wildlife that included these types of organisms.

You can see a trilobite fossil in the interactive display.

The Babia and Luna landscape has been a changing environment. It has undergone both natural and man-made transformations. An example is the Barrios de Luna reservoir, which was built in 1951.

Interestingly, a seam of Cambrian rocks around 500 million years old was discovered when the road to this reservoir was built. Many universities from Spain and other countries come here to study this seam, as it sheds light on history.

Turn the wheel on the interactive display to learn more about how the landscape has changed over the past 4,000 years.

This room with symbolic displays, contains two photomontages and another two texts by Pablo Andrés Escapa.

Two backlit panels with images by Silvia Grav are on display.

The first is a photomontage of the villages that were completely or partially flooded when the reservoir was built. The image shows real photographs of the villages, with a photograph of the reservoir, and the easily recognisable Fernández-Casado suspension bridge.

In the other montage, trees fly out of a mountain. It represents the lack of large forests in comparison to other neighbouring areas such as Omaña or Laciana.

There are two main reasons for this lack of trees. The first is the altitude and the cold and windy conditions in higher regions, which prevent tall trees from growing, and only very small cushion-shaped shrubs and pasture survive. The other reason is that in the lower part of the region, where the temperatures are milder, the land is given over to pasture, as the main activity here is still livestock farming.

This module is dedicated to livestock farming, which is one of the reasons for the lack of trees in the region.

The main type of livestock in the natural park is the Spanish-Breton horse, various breeds of cows and sheep, which even today continue to engage in transhumance or transterminance, which is also a seasonal movement in a herd, but over shorter distances. They spend the colder seasons of the year in the south of the province of León, instead of moving to Extremadura.

In the interactive displays, you can compare the widths of the various types of drove roads and touch wool from the merino sheep.

A space in the panel is also given over to Spanish Mastiffs. These dogs were livestock farmers' main defence against possible attacks by wolves and bears. Bears will only attack livestock if food is scarce in the mountains.

The interactive displays will show you why mastiffs' dewlap is so important. You can also hear these dogs barking and look at their gentle face, which contrasts with their physical power, as they weigh up to 90 kilograms.

Another sheepdog native to the Northern Submeseta plateau is the medium-sized Leonese sheepdog, which has black hair with grey and white patches.

If you want to know where the name of the "Leonese sheepdog" dog breed comes from, lift the lid of the "Did you know...?"

The presence of sheepdogs is related to the existence of wolves in the area.

This livestock farming was very important, as were the sheep farming passes, which brought so much wealth to the villages in the Natural Park, as they were leased to shepherds with large flocks.

This panel shows the wildlife living in the area.

The terrain in this area makes life for animals very difficult. The Cantabrian chamois is an animal that belongs to the goat family and is only found in the Cantabrian Mountains, and has adapted to the conditions here.

The vulture is a majestic inhabitant of the skies, spreading its wings as it make impressive flights. With a keen eye from above, this bird of prey plays a crucial role in the food chain, acting as a very effective scavenger. Their presence, dark plumage and large wingspan symbolise the strength and vitality of the animal kingdom in the open skies.

You can reach into the interactive display to touch an animal resting in its burrow.

The panel you are looking at gives you details and information about the flora in the area.

The panel shows silhouettes representing junipers.

Juniper trees, which can be found all around the Barrios de Luna reservoir, are very important because they are Europe's westernmost juniper forest. In theory, junipers are found in warmer and drier areas, but as they are in limestone soil and facing south, they compensate for the higher rainfall in the region by filtering water down to the subsoil. The heat from the higher levels of sunshine is also stored in this type of soil.

Slide the cover of the "did you know" to find out how the forests rewilded the former agricultural fields, which had been abandoned as a result of depopulation and changes in livestock farming.

In the backlit interactive displays, you will see more images of junipers with some interesting information about them.

Find the bear behind the broom trees in the model. You will see how tall the broom trees are, as they can reach heights of up to 2 metres.

Look at the silhouette of the brown bear.

This animal plays a crucial role in the Babia and Luna Natural Park, acting as an indicator of the ecosystem's health, contributing to biodiversity as a barrier species, encouraging sustainable tourism, promoting habitat connectivity and preserving the rich local cultural heritage. Their preservation not only benefits the species itself, but also has positive impacts on the entire natural and human environment that shares this mountain habitat.

The next wall panel shows some of the benefits of wildlife for the flora in the region.

Insects play a key role in facilitating cross-fertilisation between different plants. They attract bees, beetles and butterflies using colourful flowers and attractive nectar, thereby overcoming the distance between each individual and enabling the pollination process to take place. This work is carried out by a wide variety of insects, including bumblebees, beetles and butterflies.

Another way animals help plants is by dispersing seeds. This happens when an animal eats the fruit and leaves the remains elsewhere, far from the tree.

In the interactive display, you can press the button and illuminate the image of a daffodil.

Slide back the "did you know?" and find out how animals select the grasses they eat, leading to the diversification of species in the meadows and fertilising the grasslands.

Use the wheel to match each animal with what it eats.

The next panel contains information about the breeds of cow in the area and their importance for butter production in the last century.

This included the Leonese butter cow, which was a unique and robust native breed, highly valued for its stamina and the quality of its milk, which it produced in limited quantities, but which was rich in fat, meaning that it produced good butter.

However, in the middle of the twentieth century, the Leonese butter cow began to be replaced by a foreign breed, the Swiss Brown, due to the better financial results it provided. A project to restore the population of the Leonese butter cow is currently under way.

The local tradition of butter production led to the creation of Spain's first School of Dairy Industries in 1888.

Use the wheel to match the coat of each cow with the right breed.

The "did you know?" provides information about the names of the cows, which are usually friendly and affectionate. The most common breeds are Garbosa, Capitana, Artillera, Serrana and Estrella.

The major change in the terrain is caused by the rivers and streams that flow through this region, and by the Luna and Sil rivers in particular. The waters of the Luna flow to the Duero along a very mild slope, while the river Sil descends on a much steeper slope and has a much faster rate of erosion than the gentle Luna.

Did you know that some rivers are pirates? It's true, and the Sil is an example of one. Its strong erosive power means that it has been stealing land from the Luna. This phenomenon is known as "the Sil piracy".

Today its waters continue to eat away at the highlands of the Luna basin, and millions of years in the future, a large proportion of the water that flows through Babia today will end up draining into the Sil.

In the interactive display, you can move the lever, which will make the river Sil sink.

Next to it, you can put your hand in a box and feel the heat given off by the volcanoes. There is a spring in Caldas de Luna with water that springs at 28 degrees.

This cultural panel looks at the language of pachuezo, also known as pachuezu.

Pachuezu is a local variant of the Asturleones language spoken in the north of León, and particularly in the regions of Luna, Babia and Laciana. As well as a rich oral tradition, there are also written works in the language.

Although it is similar to Spanish, pachuezu has distinctive features that make it unique. It is a Romance language that has preserved archaic characteristics of colloquial Latin and is influenced by the pre-Roman languages spoken in the region.

The use of Pachuezu has declined over the years, as it has been displaced by Spanish as the dominant language. Nevertheless, some work is being done to revitalise and preserve this linguistic heritage. Local organisations and communities work to promote pachuezu through teaching, literary and musical production, and raising awareness of its cultural importance.

Here there is a game where you have to link the villages of the natural park to the real meaning of their name. The sign also has words in Pachuezu, their meaning, and the places where they are used.

This panel shows three of the animals that indicate when the quality of water is good.

The first is the trout. This animal needs oxygenated cold water, so having one of the most important trout reserves in Villafeliz is excellent news for the quality of the water in the river Luna.

The interactive display shows you how to work out how old a trout is. There is a video about trout shown in a telescope-shaped interactive display.

Another indicator of the water quality are the stone tubes constructed by the caddisfly larvae that live inside them under rocks on the river bed, to avoid being swept away by the current. This larva also needs very good environmental conditions to live, so it is a good indicator that water is present. It is also highly valued for use as bait in fishing.

Finally, you can see the Iberian muskrat in the display case. It is an aquatic species, with a body like a mole, 14 to 18 centimetres long, with a long tail like a mouse and an elongated snout with sensitive hairs. It has very small eyes so its underwater vision is very poor, so it uses the sensitive hairs on its snout to study the ripples in the water to guide it and track its prey. It has webbed feet, with membranes between the toes, but it also has claws. It is known as the platypus of the Iberian Peninsula, because its body is a mixture of parts of other animals.

This panel looks at dams built with logs, stones and branches. Although they appear to be made by beavers, these structures are actually built by the region's inhabitants, who used them to divert water to irrigate their crops.

An interesting "Did you know?" provides more information about these microhabitats, which are extremely beneficial for some species of fish, which find the perfect home to thrive in these structures.

Moving downwards in your visual exploration, you will find an illustration of the Fernández Casado suspension bridge, which spans the reservoir. The names of the villages that were flooded to create the reservoir are listed below: Arévalo, Láncara, Campo, Oblanca, San Pedro, and many others.

The panel shows the Los Barrios de Luna reservoir, which stores more than 300 million cubic metres of water, showing the magnitude of this impressive hydraulic project.

These panels take you to the small town of Riolago, with picturesque roof structures. You will also come across birds commonly found in the town and the edible and medicinal plants found in the area.

According to an old story, the buildings in the mountains were covered with a thatched roof known as a teito, which required constant upkeep because it was so delicate, and this job was done by people known as "teitadores".

And the other provides information on traditional ovens.

The huts and cabins have slate roofs.

In the panel focusing on the residents of the villages, there is a wheel showing the birds found in our villages, including swallows and owls.

On the right of the panel, there is a small herbarium where you can smell the different plants and mushrooms.

The exhibition ends behind a curtain, in a corner next to the panels.

Press the switch on the right to recreate the region's sky at night, full of stars.

Nights in Babia and Luna soothe the soul and fill it with peace, but it has a more pragmatic dimension: the opportunity to study astronomy in depth. The rocky bulwark of the mountains acts as a barrier holding back the waves of urban light coming from León and Oviedo.

Look at the continuous panel with vertical stripes in white, grey, orange and green. They represent the colours of the Babia and Luna Natural Park

White represents snow. Grey is the rocks. Orange are the sunsets. Forests, pastures and scrubland are shown in green.

This panel concludes the visit.

You can go down to the audiovisual room and enjoy a 4-minute interactive animation, with several layers of projections.

The video shows a filandón. A filandón is the name given to the time of day when families used to gather around the fire to tell stories and talk, usually after dinner, while doing other tasks such as sewing or knitting.

Once the screening is over, you can continue to enjoy the outside of the palace, visiting the bar and the chapel.

In addition to providing a bar service, our bar invites visitors to embark on a nostalgic journey that evokes the atmosphere of the old bar-stores and rural kitchens of the early twentieth century. This space aims to provide visitors with a warm welcome, where they can enjoy local products and immerse themselves in Babia and Luna's rich cultural tradition. It also presents valuable ethnographic content in photographs, panels and instruments related to rural life in this region.

Old objects such as wool carding tools, carpenters' brushes, baskets, jars, nests and others, and an ancient rock are on display inside. Information on how to treat linen is shown in one of the panels you will find on the walls.

If you would like to visit the bar, leave the Palace and follow the path to the left, then turn right, following the path to a large wooden double door, behind which you will find the bar.

The chapel's façade is built with stone ashlars.

The illustrations that run along the interior walls represent the village's agriculture and livestock farming. They are the work of the artist Maite Mutuberria.

Each illustration shows a different motif of the Natural Park. From the beginning of the left wall to the end of the right wall, you can see a tawny owl, a stork, a farmer with a sickle, a cow, a horse, water, the wind, footsteps in the snow, a wolf, sheep and a mastiff.

This chapel itself is an interactive display, in which you hear sounds, which you have to match with the illustrations on the wall.

This audio clip concludes your visit to the Palace of Quiñones, the Babia and Luna Natural Park House, highlighting the rich flora and fauna, the landscape, the history, the importance of livestock and the traditions of these villages.

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.