The Lago de Sanabria route
This route takes you through the lovely Lago de Sanabria nature park, with its picturesque villages, full of popular architecture styles with large eaves and houses of the regions former gentry .The glacial lagoon in Sanabria is the largest in Spain.
We begin our itinerary in the pleasant village of Sanabria, capital of this region and declared an area of particular historic and artistic interest. The emphasis here is on the impressive 15th century castle raised high up above the town, near here you'll find the 12th century Roman church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, which houses an unusual baptist font and numerous ancient headstones. Next to the church there is the Baroque hermitage of San Cayetano and in Plaza Mayor there is the parish church and the magnificent 15th century town hall building with its renaissance façade, as well as the ruins of the San Francisco convent and the train station.

Taking the ZA-104 road we go through El Puente (the bridge), so called because of the bridge that crosses the Tera river and visit the ancient hermitage here.

Continuing on the same road we take another stop at Galende, where we can enjoy the numerous examples of popular architecture, with their wooden corridors and large impressive chimneys. Other important buildings here include the local mill and the prison situated by the river.

We rejoin the ZA-104 until we arrive at Pedrazalves, a lovely locality situated on the slope of the picturesque mountains, and as in the previous village there are many wonderful examples of popular architecture and an incredible large forests of 1000 year old chestnut trees.

Continuing on the ZA-104 to Vigo de Sanabria, situated in the valley next to the Canyon de Forcadura. In the centre of the town you will find the Ermita de la Virgen de las Gracias, in whose interior you can see a classic Roman sculpture of the Virgin and the Roman burial site, as well as the 15th century parish church and a ancient single arched bridge over the river.

Back onto the ZA-104 to San Martín de Castañeda, where we can see the Lago de Sanabria lake. Here we can visit the ancient 10th century Visigoth monastery of San Martín de Castañeda, which has an impressive renaissance altarpiece, Gothic sepulchres and an information centre specially for the Lago de Sanabria nature park, which has several auditoriums dedicated to theatre, audiovisual displays, general information and an exhibition hall with interesting displays of sacred art.

At the end our journey we visit the actual Lago de Sanabria nature park. The banks of the river have a latitude of nearly 1000 meters but the highest point being the Pico de Peña Trevinca, at a magnificent 2,124 meters. The Sanabria lakes flows through the Sierra de la Cabrera Baja mountain range, to the west of the province. Stretching for 368 hectares, the cold clear waters reach more than 50 meters in depth. The lake dates back to over 100,000 years .The surrounding valleys of the rivers Tera, Cárdena and Segunderia travel through the park and conserve numerous examples of the glaciations, specifically highlighting ravines, lakes, precipices and ancient deposits.

In the abundant lush vegetation the forests are of full of Oaks, Chestnuts, Birches, Willows, Yew trees, thickets and peat bogs. The lake itself has a large quantity of Trout and Barbells as well as the presence of birds and mammals including a large wolf colony.