Even though I technically spent this weekend “in Leon,” I
feel like I was busier than when I traveled to Barcelona or Andalucía! Saturday
was our first program excursion, along with other students from the Language
Center of the university here, so we had a big tourist bus. First we went to
the small town of Astorgas, which is a tourist destination primarily because
Gaudi only designed three buildings outside of Barcelona, and one of them is
here. It’s called the Episcopal Palace (for the bishop to live in, next to the
Cathedral). Gaudi and the bishop were childhood friends (I think), so he agreed
to be the architect, but the bishop died before the project was completed, so
Gaudi left and the work was finished by someone else, so the style changes
slightly as you move up the building, but it’s still beautiful. Not quite as
impressive as the Sagrada Familia (which I saw and will write about!) but still very enjoyable. We weren't supposed to
take photos inside, but here’s what the outside looked like.
Also, the weather was just phenomenal, which definitely didn't hurt the excursion at all. In the town, we also saw the Main Plaza and a small chocolate museum. By small, I mean it was difficult for the ~40 of us to fit in museum. I’m not really sure why we went there, but many people made edible purchases in the gift shop, so I’m sure the museum didn't mind.
We drove a little ways away to a tiny town near Las Médulas (explanation to come) for lunch next. My host mom packed me two sandwiches which were the size of Subway footlongs, and I had some fruit... Did not eat everything! We had nearly two hours allotted for lunch and since I do not eat quite that slowly, I had ample time to wander around and look at this lake.
Las Médulas (a UNESCO World Heritage site) are what remains of a huge Roman gold mining operation in the first and second century. The Romans found out that there was gold under the mountains in this particular spot, so they excavated tunnels under the mountains (above the level of the gold, more or less). Meanwhile, they built underground canals to transport water from mountains up to 100 km away, stored the water in reservoirs, and then released it, filling the caves with water, which had nowhere to go, and the mountains exploded. Obviously the dirt and rocks went somewhere, totally altering the downstream landscape, and creating some new water features in the process, like the one above! The Romans did this for 300 years, and today, we see this!
We got to go in one tunnel/cave, and had to wear hardhats. We realized that it wasn't to protect us from falling rocks; it was to protect us from bumping our heads on the low ceilings! I'm glad I was not a Roman miner...
Real hard hats in the US conform to ASTM standards but these ones were made in Spain so I don't know if they/to what standards they conform. Didn't seem like a question that the cave ticket-sellers would know the answer to though! I am also dying to know more about the hydraulic design of the canals... They must have had a decent elevation drop to be able to transport that much water so far (without physical pipes, according to my professor, so I'm sure the loss from "leakage" was significant...but how much?). Did they think about those things? How did they know--was the whole project just an experiment which went well? Pressure probably would have built up, but pressure reducing valves hardly existed back then...How did they collect the water at the top of the system? What volumes of water are we talking about? Diameters of canals and tunnels?? What were the downstream effects? Did this alter the watershed(s)? Kill a bunch of animals? People?
Anyway. We had taken a bus up to the viewpoint, but we walked back down to a different small town below, which was so pleasant. Since we didn't actually have to do any work, it didn't feel like a hike, per se, but I was so glad to be out in the woods surrounded by fall colors. Once we got down to the level of Las Médulas, the light had turned that fantastic autumn gold color, which made the remaining rock formations look that much more impressive!
Will write about Sunday's adventure tomorrow (hopefully...)!
Also, the weather was just phenomenal, which definitely didn't hurt the excursion at all. In the town, we also saw the Main Plaza and a small chocolate museum. By small, I mean it was difficult for the ~40 of us to fit in museum. I’m not really sure why we went there, but many people made edible purchases in the gift shop, so I’m sure the museum didn't mind.
We drove a little ways away to a tiny town near Las Médulas (explanation to come) for lunch next. My host mom packed me two sandwiches which were the size of Subway footlongs, and I had some fruit... Did not eat everything! We had nearly two hours allotted for lunch and since I do not eat quite that slowly, I had ample time to wander around and look at this lake.
Las Médulas (a UNESCO World Heritage site) are what remains of a huge Roman gold mining operation in the first and second century. The Romans found out that there was gold under the mountains in this particular spot, so they excavated tunnels under the mountains (above the level of the gold, more or less). Meanwhile, they built underground canals to transport water from mountains up to 100 km away, stored the water in reservoirs, and then released it, filling the caves with water, which had nowhere to go, and the mountains exploded. Obviously the dirt and rocks went somewhere, totally altering the downstream landscape, and creating some new water features in the process, like the one above! The Romans did this for 300 years, and today, we see this!
We got to go in one tunnel/cave, and had to wear hardhats. We realized that it wasn't to protect us from falling rocks; it was to protect us from bumping our heads on the low ceilings! I'm glad I was not a Roman miner...
Real hard hats in the US conform to ASTM standards but these ones were made in Spain so I don't know if they/to what standards they conform. Didn't seem like a question that the cave ticket-sellers would know the answer to though! I am also dying to know more about the hydraulic design of the canals... They must have had a decent elevation drop to be able to transport that much water so far (without physical pipes, according to my professor, so I'm sure the loss from "leakage" was significant...but how much?). Did they think about those things? How did they know--was the whole project just an experiment which went well? Pressure probably would have built up, but pressure reducing valves hardly existed back then...How did they collect the water at the top of the system? What volumes of water are we talking about? Diameters of canals and tunnels?? What were the downstream effects? Did this alter the watershed(s)? Kill a bunch of animals? People?
Anyway. We had taken a bus up to the viewpoint, but we walked back down to a different small town below, which was so pleasant. Since we didn't actually have to do any work, it didn't feel like a hike, per se, but I was so glad to be out in the woods surrounded by fall colors. Once we got down to the level of Las Médulas, the light had turned that fantastic autumn gold color, which made the remaining rock formations look that much more impressive!
Will write about Sunday's adventure tomorrow (hopefully...)!
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