The Las Médulas gold mine covers a wide territory in the municipalities of Borrenes, Carucedo and Puente de Domingo Flórez. This itinerary, a route that covers this large area, is based around six information points distributed along this practically circular route. Most of the route is along a set of non-asphalted lanes.
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You can start the route in the village of Orellán or at the Mirador de Orellán (point 1 on the itinerary). In the first case leave your car in the Orellán village and walk up the steep lane some 1.5 km long that leads in a south-easterly direction from the village up to the Orellán viewpoint.
-Point 1. Mirador de Orellán.
This is a privileged point for contemplating the size of the land that was moved and the working fronts, as well as being able to observe the different exploitation fronts used by the Romans in Las Médulas:
- An information panel installed at the viewpoint explains the extensive working systems, the mining cuts or ruina montium of which the remains of the ancient galleries are witness. One of these is currently open for visits
- The panel located alongside the monument dedicated to the mountaineer Elvio Nieto explains the extensive working systems using the La Furnia and El Couso canal trenches.
The Orellán viewpoint is also an ideal site for understanding the nature and scale of the hydraulic infrastructure laid out by the Romans for gold mining. An information panel to the north-east of the viewpoint explains the route of the canals that run from La Franca into the La Horta regulating and distribution deposit, located at the foot of the viewpoint.
- Point 2. Pena Escribida. Proceeding 900 metres uphill along the track leading south-west
from the viewpoint takes you to the second point on the itinerary.
At this point a part of the canal's channel is uncovered.
There is an information panel here that provides an explanation on how the mine's hydraulic
network was built.
- Point 3. The deposit's geology. Continuing along the track with, on the left, the Campo de Braña picnic site - a good place to make a stop - one arrives at a fork in the track. Here you choose to continue forward towards point 4, or turn off to the right along the track that leads to Reirigo, where there is an information panel on the deposit's geology. From here there is a splendid panoramic view of the workings. However, the climb to the upper part is difficult.
- Point 4. Llagúa de Yeres. This point provides a panoramic view of the westernmost sector of the gold mine, that located between the village of Las Médulas and the Barranco de la Balouta (the Balouta ravine). Here there are two panels that explain how the washing channels and the evacuation of the wastes. From this point one also looks over the southern slope down to the Cabrera valley. From here one can see around the village of San Pedro de Trones the enormous piles of wastes generated in recent times by the slate industry.
- After bending to the right the track descends towards the inside of the mine at the village of Las Médulas from where one reaches point 5, the La Cuevona and La Encantada caves, located below the mining front and a spectacular display of the eroded remains of the mined network of a ruina montium.
- To access point 6, the Lago Somido, one has to return to the Médulas village and after crossing the hamlet cover the 1 km along the track that leads west. The Somido lake is the result of the flooding of a section of the wastes evacuation channel that fed the enormous plain of tailings known as the Chaos de Maseiros, also visible from this spot.
Because this is a practically circular route it can be joined from various points. We recommend you start from the village of Orellán, as this means you follow the order of the Roman mining process. Other possible accesses are:
- From the Médulas village: a good option is to leave your car by the Archaeological Information Centre and, after visiting this, start the visit by heading towards point 5. From here you can get to point 1, although it should be noted that the only route between these points is along quite a steep path that leads from the Tia Bibiana spring. The plan for winter 2003 is to prepare other paths and signs for connecting these points.br>
- From the village of Yeres by the track leading to Las Pedrices, where you can leave your car (the construction of a car park is planned for this zone for winter 2003).
As we have said, this route provides a visit to the main area mined in the Roman era. The itinerary’s design makes it possible, depending on the time available, to visit just those sections relating to golf mining and to visit specific areas.
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