Return to site

Roman Mine Engineering Preserved in Northern Spain’s Las Medulas

William D. Jones, MD

broken image

William D. Jones, MD, is a respected presence in the Oklahoma City, OK medical community who provides knowledgeable care focused on occupational and preventive health. Having traveled to destinations throughout OK and across the globe, William D. Jones, MD, is planning a summer trip to Spain that will focus on the Camino De Santiago. The 500 mile pilgrimage route stretches from Southern France to the historic city of Santiago de Compostela.

One interesting excursion 20 miles from the main route is Las Medulas, a mountainous area of Leon near the border of Galicia that bears witness to the early engineering activities of the Romans. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area features reddish mountains that are still bare in parts and were heavily mined for gold over a 200 year period.
The Romans constructed a complex channel system that diverted water through tunnels, lakes, and galleries, and created enough force to significantly erode the mountains, which are largely formed of clay. The end result was a mining operation that yielded some 800 tons of gold. Today red dust is omnipresent in the mined region, which has not seen industrial activity since the time of the Romans. Visitors can still see the galleries that were carved out, as well as marks left by ancient miners using then state of the art mining technologies.
Another highlight of the region is the Penalba de Santiago in the Valle del Silencio (Valley of Silence). The Mozarabic church features well preserved High Medieval architecture and limestone and slate masonry of the 10th century.