León

Catedral de León

The Cathedral of León dates from the 10th century and is located over the ancient baths and public buildings that the Legio VII had erected at the end of the 2nd century. After defeating the Arabs in the battle of San Esteban de Gormaz, this building was donated by the king in order to build on it the first cathedral temple. It was by order of Princess Urraca, sister of Fernando I, when the construction of a new building was begun entirely with brick and masonry.

This cathedral was completely preserved until the end of the third century, when Alfonso IX began to reign, who ordered the construction of the current building. This new building consisted of three naves between the entrance and the transept and extended to five naves between the transept and the high altar. These naves were all covered with ribbed vaults. The interior was finished off with a large chevet.

Torre de los Ponce

The Ponce Tower is the oldest fortification in the city and the only one that remains. Its construction was intended to be an ecclesiastical prison and later, a place where bread taxes were to be paid.

Its nomenclature is due to Count Don Ponce de Minerva, steward of Alfonso VII and Governor of the Towers of the City.

Casa Botines

The Botines House built by Antonio Gaudí at the request of the company founded by Joan Homs i Botinàs, resembles a castle with Gothic reminiscences. This building had the function of housing in its first floor and in the semi-basement the part of the weaving workshop and the upper floors were rented for private use.

It is currently the headquarters of a financial institution and on the upper floors it is common to find temporary exhibitions.

Plaza del Grano

The Plaza del Grano is one of the best known squares in the city, as it was here that the grain market was held every month and bullfights were held sporadically.

The Plaza del Grano is one of the best known squares in the city, as it was here that the grain market was held every month and bullfights were held sporadically.

It is also recognized by the fact that its floor is composed of a classic cobblestone and colonnaded houses, which gives it an even more stately appearance. In its center it has a Stone Cross, which according to legend, is built on the place where the Virgin appeared.

Plaza Mayor

The Plaza Mayor is the main square of the city, both as a leisure and administrative center. Its construction took place in two periods: the first from 1654 to 1672 and was designed by Antonio Ambrosio and the second from 1677 when Francisco del Piñal decided to remodel it after suffering a fire.

Currently the arcades and half-storey houses are maintained and continues to house the market, while under the protection of the columns proliferate entertainment venues.

Auditorio Municipal

The Municipal Auditorium of León has been awarded the Spanish Architecture Prize thanks to the exclusive architectural plan and the high quality of the materials used in its construction.

This building with seating capacity for 1500 people spread over three halls, was inaugurated in 2002 and since then hosts all the cultural activity of the city, from theater, dance, music to lyric.

The Auditorio Municipal de León has a capacity for 1500 people spread over three halls.

Ayuntamiento de San Marcelo

The San Marcelo City Hall building also known as Casa de la Poridad dates back to the 16th century and is the work of Juan del Ribero.

The building was designed by Juan del Ribero.

Only the northwest wing of its original construction is preserved, since in the 1920s a series of additions and renovations were carried out when the neighboring Teatro Principal collapsed.

It should be noted that inside are two austere sixteenth-century columns from the disappeared Convent of Santo Domingo, the murals of Vela Zanetti and the stained glass window built by Luis García Zurdo.

Capilla del Santo Cristo de la Victoria

The Chapel of Santo Cristo de la Victoria according to legend, was built on the site of the house of Saint Martyr Roman centurion of the Legio VII Gemina known as San Marcelo and patron saint of the city.

The temple in which the Santo Cristo de la Victoria is venerated with an image of the twelfth century, is characterized by a marked neo-Romanesque style.

Casonas y Palacios del Casco Histórico

Convento de las Concepcionistas

The Convent of the Conceptionists was founded in the 16th century. It has a stone facade dating from the fourteenth century with elegant and sober moldings.

Juan del Ribero was in charge of the construction of the church that we find inside the convent. This temple has in its interior a unique altarpiece of gilded and polychrome pine wood from the 18th century consisting of a bank, two floors and attic.

Convento de San Francisco

The Convent of St. Francis was built over a primitive 13th century convent, which was founded by St. Francis of Assisi on his way to Compostela.

The Convent of St. Francis was built on the site of a primitive 13th century convent, which was founded by St. Francis of Assisi on his way to Compostela.

The convent church dating from 1791, is the work of Francisco de Rivas and has altarpieces and carvings of great value. Since 1882 on the altar stands out a large altarpiece of the eighteenth century representing the Assumption of Mary, the work of Narciso Tomé and Simon Gavilan.

Convento de San Marcos

The Convent of San Marcos was built thanks to a donation made by the Infanta Doña Sancha in the 12th century to create a hospital on the outskirts of the city to accommodate pilgrims on their way to Santiago.

The Convent of San Marcos was built thanks to a donation made by the Infanta Doña Sancha in the 12th century to create a hospital on the outskirts of the city to accommodate pilgrims on their way to Santiago.

Of this building it is worth noting the Plateresque style facade and austere traces. The construction is divided into three bodies, the third being a decorative set of openwork plant type. The most interesting part of the complex are the two niches located one in each tower of the church:

Edificio del MUSAC

The Musac Building is the work of Emilio Tuñón Álvarez and Luis Moreno Mansilla, it was founded on April 1, 2005 and two years later received the Mies Van Der Rohe Award for Contemporary Architecture of the European Union.

The highlights of its structure are the 3,000 stradic glass that make it up and create a large mosaic of colors. The museum aims to disseminate the heritage of the city of León while recalling the contemporary character of the cathedral.

El Barrio Judío

The Jewish Quarter of León was consolidated in an area bounded by the Plaza Mayor, Santa Ana Street and Grano Street when the Hebrew community arrived in the city between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The Jewish Quarter of León was consolidated in an area bounded by the Plaza Mayor, Santa Ana Street and Grano Street when the Hebrew community arrived in the city between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.

At present, work is being done to be able to recover the Hebrew heritage that this place possessed thanks to the Hebrew settlement. It is worth mentioning the historical value that is preserved in Misericordia and Santa Cruz streets.

Iglesia de San Marcelo

The Church of San Marcelo was built on the remains of the ancient patron saint of the place, San Marcelo, which were transferred to the city by King Ferdinand the Catholic in 1493.

These remains were not found until 1588, at which time Juan del Ribero Rada and Baltasar Gutiérrez built the current temple, extending the works until 1627. Inside the temple, highlights the altarpiece of the eighteenth century that houses in its center the carving dedicated to San Marcos.

Iglesia de San Martín

The Church of St. Martin, which dates back to the 11th century, retains a cam of its original Romanesque style due to the countless transformations to which it was subjected over the centuries.

The Church of St. Martin, which dates back to the 11th century, retains a cam of its original Romanesque style due to the countless transformations to which it was subjected over the centuries.

At present an apse attached to the adjoining building of the Old Consistory is preserved and inside we find a carving of the Pietà from the mid-18th century, the work of Luis Salvador Carmona.

The church is a monument of the Pietà, a work of Luis Salvador Carmona.

The church has been restored to its original Romanesque style.

Palacio de los Guzmanes

The Palacio de los Guzmanes is a building built between 1559 and 1572 on the remains of the old city wall. It underwent numerous reforms over the years, highlighting the year 1882 when it became the property of the Diputación.

As for its structure we can highlight its trapezoidal plan, which ends with a tower at each of its corners. The building is divided into two bodies, of which the upper one stands out for its set of balconies and the lower one for the windows covered with bars. All this set is distributed around a colonnaded inner courtyard.

Iglesia de San Salvador de Palat de Rey

The Church of San Salvador de Palat de Rey was built on the remains of a temple of Greek cross plan of which only the transept covered with a groin vault is preserved.

Its reconstruction dates from the tenth century by order of Ramiro II, who decided to build a small monastery in which his daughter Elvira could live. This monastery was abandoned during the Middle Ages until it began to be used as a parish church.

Iglesia de Santa Ana

In the Old Jewish Quarter of the city we find the Church of Santa Ana, which retains a structure divided into three naves, the central one being the widest and the two sides are divided with pointed arches.

The mural paintings with Mudejar influences, as well as the neoclassical altarpiece that houses the carvings of San Lazaro and San Antonio Abad, stand out from its interior.

Iglesia de Santa María del Mercado

The church of Santa María del Mercado dates back to the 12th century, although it underwent major renovations and extensions in the 15th, 16th and 18th centuries. This temple presents a very original form since the height of the naves is decreasing from the head to the feet, so we find sarcophagus-like masonry.

The church has a very original form since the height of the naves is decreasing from the head to the feet, so we find sarcophagus-like masonry.

Of the three original apses of the church, only the two lateral ones covered by oven vaults are preserved. The central apse was demolished in the early eighteenth century to raise in its place a small chapel that allowed to enter the temple from the rear, in order to venerate the image of the Virgen del Camino, a work of the fifteenth century.

Iglesia de Santa Marina

The church of Santa Marina was designed in the mid-sixteenth century by order of Bishop Don Juan de San Millan. At present, numerous sculptures are preserved inside, such as the one dedicated to the Virgin of the Rosary, the figure representing Bishop Don Juan or the image of St. Francis Xavier.

Palacio de los Condes de Luna

The palace of the Counts of Luna was built in the 14th century by Don Pedro Suárez de Quiñones and his wife Doña Juana González de Bazán. From that period only its Gothic-Mudejar style façade decorated with the family’s heraldic coats of arms is preserved. Later it was Doña Clara Pimentel who decided to expand this palace by adding a Renaissance-style tower covered with slate.

Today it is owned by the city council who uses it as the headquarters of the University of Washington in Spain, as well as the Interpretation Center of the History of the Kingdom of León.

Real Colegiata de San Isidoro

The Royal Collegiate Church of San Isidoro was founded in the tenth century by order of King Sancho the Crassus, in order to bury inside the remains of the child martyr of Cordoba. It later underwent a grandiose remodeling by Alfonso V to convert the building into the home of his daughter Doña Sancha and her husband Fernando I. This reconstruction was completed in 1063, resulting in a completely Romanesque temple.

As for its structure, its interior is accessed through several doors, the main one known as La Puerta del Cordero, which highlights the equestrian sculpture of San Isidoro and the side door known as La Puerta del Perdón, in invocation of the pilgrims who approached there. In the main altar, of Hispano-Flemish style is a beautiful altarpiece of the sixteenth century.

Muralla Romana y Cerca Medieval

The Roman Wall of the city is also known as the Wall of the Cubes. This surrounded the camping area of the Legio VI Victrix and had four entrances on each of its sides. Of these gates only the one known as “Puerta Castillo” is preserved, rebuilt in 1759.

As for the structure of the wall, it is just over 5 meters thick, about 8 meters high and has semicircular towers with a perpendicular plan.