We arrived in León in the late afternoon on Tuesday, checked into our hotel, and took a walk to orient ourselves. León is a very pleasant small city, easy to walk, and with a lot to see.We strolled until tapas time, around 9, then settled into a small tavern for wine and stuffed piquillo peppers and fried calamari. Real Madrid were playing a soccer match against Istanbul, and we stayed until we were sure that the Spaniards were winning.
León was created in a.d. 68 by the 7th Roman legion, to secure the transport of gold from Galicia back to Rome, and to protect its newly conquered territory from the native Astures and Cantabrians. In the 6th century the city fell to the Visigoths, who held it more or less until the Moors drove them out. In the 9th century the Moors were expelled by a Christian king, and León became the most important city on the peninsula, a symbol for the Reconquista. The province was an independent kingdom until it merged with Castilla through marriage, and it is now part of Castilla y León (though many local signs have had the Castilla y blacked out).
In other words, we are back in multi-layered Spain, with Roman baths beneath a stunning gothic cathedral, a medieval quarter of pedestrian streets, a modern business district, a thriving university, and some of the best tapas anywhere. Our walks yesterday included both the cathedral and the museum of contemporary art (MUSAC), spanning centuries of art in a few hours. Personally, I got more out of the soaring arches and brilliant stained glass windows of the cathedral than I did from the navel-gazing, high-tech, black-and-white exhibits currently at MUSAC. Plus they were tuning the organ in the cathedral in preparation for this weekend’s organ festival, and the sound was simply amazing as the organist ran through various musical passages.
We continued the multi-layered theme today with a field trip to the monastery of San Miguel de Escalada, out in the meseta about thirty miles from León. This small chapel was founded in the 9th century but soon abandoned, until in the 10th a group of monks arrived from Cordoba and stayed. Their restoration of the ruins brought the mozarabic architectural form to the site. A romanesque church was added for the locals to use while the monks lived in the older basilica. In the 12th century the Augustines took it over, adding gothic touches. Later arrivals added mudejar frescoes in the 14th century. At some point restorers brought Roman columns from a nearby ruin for the basilica nave. There are inscriptions in Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew.
I’m not sure I’ve got all this straight; it was hard to keep track as our enthusiastic guide showed us around. But it was charmingly beautiful and a lovely example of the waves of diverse cultures that have swept across this Iberian peninsula. It is a history that keeps bringing us back to Spain. It was a gorgeous fall day in the countryside, and we enjoyed the warmth and sunshine. Photos to come.
