RThe Vía de la Plata en León route
The la Plata was an old route from the days of Cartagine military and the Roman conquests. It crosses through Castilla and León from the south to the north, passing through the provinces of Salamanca, Zamora and León.
In León the Ruta de la Plata shares it territory with some of the towns which are also on the famous Camino de Santiago route, both of these routes are principle in León and Astorga.

We begin our journey in La Bañeza, the main town of this region, which has numerous interesting monuments to enjoy such as the churches of San Salvador and Santa Maria which houses a Baroque altarpiece of great artistic value and the la Piedad de Gregorio Fernández group.

Taking the N-IV road we arrive at Palacios de Valduerna, where we visit a medieval castle which belonged to the Bazán nobility as well as the ruins of an original Roman paved road. Continuing on the same road we take a stop at Astorga, capital of Maragateria an ancient town which was exploited for its quantity of gold mines. Within the legacy of monuments there is the 16th century Gothic church of Santa Maria, the Episcopal palace which was the work of Gaudy and the remains of Roman walls which were constructed during the 13th century.

On the N-120 now we stop at the Órbigo hospital, where we can see the church and San Juan hospital, both constructed to shelter the Jacobean Pilgrims. There is also the Del Paso Honroso bridge here which is famous for the many battles fought on it over the years.

We then take the LE-420 road stopping briefly at Carrizo, where we can see the important 12th-16th century Santa Maria monastery or the Cistern monks.

From Carrizo we go on to the capital of León on the LE-441 road. This ancient capital of the kingdom of León , originally ruled by the Romans and the Muslims, nowadays offers the traveller numerous historic and artistic monuments to enjoy. Amongst the impressive range here are the 16th - 18th century convent of San Marcos, the ancient hostel for the pilgrims and the Casa de los Caballeros de Santiago, the 10th century San Salvador church - the oldest one in the city, the Botines house or the Gaudy palace, the 16th century renaissance palace of the famous Guzmans, the 14th century palace of Conde Luna, which is situated next to an ancient wall, the classic style convent of San Francisco, the 13th century Santa Maria cathedral, with its spectacular stained glass windows, the 11th - 12th century Basilica - San Isidoro, the lovely renaissance convent of San Marco and many many more.

We finish our journey on the N-630 at Arbas del Puerto, where we visit the Roman church of Santa Maria, where you'll learn the legend of its construction with a bull and a bear. In the surrounding areas we can see the unusual perforation effect in the galleries left by the water as well as many impressive stalactites, stalagmites and picturesque small lagoons.