León, Spain
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The Palacio de los Guzmanes, the provincial parliament (Diputación) in the capital |
The city of
León (
Llión in the
Leonese language), located at 42.59°N
latitude, 5.57°W
longitude, is the capital of
León province in the
autonomous community of
Castile and León, in northwest
Spain. Its population of 135,794 (
2002) makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for over one-quarter of its population. Its urban area population is calculated at 185,391 (
2003).
León is famous for its
gothic León Cathedral and many other monumental buildings, such as the
Real Colegiata de San Isidoro (which holds the Royal Pantheon, a
mausoleum in which medieval
Kingdom of León's royal family were buried, and also has one of the world's best collections of
Romanesque paintings);
Casa de Botines (an early work of Catalan architect
Antoni Gaudi, nowadays occupied by a
bank); San Marcos (originally the Military Order of Santiago's home, built in the 16th century); or the new
MUSAC, the Castile and León Museum of Contemporary Art.León is also known for its "fiestas", like
Easter. Leonese processions are declared to be of International Interest and, on those days, many people from all over the world visit León to see and participate in its traditions.
León was founded in the 1st century BC by the
Roman legion Legio VI Victrix. In
68 CE Legio VII Gemina created a permanent military camp, which was the origin of a later city. Its modern name is derived from the city's
Latin name
Legio VII Gemina (
Itin. Ant. p. 395; ,
Ptol. ii. 6. § 30), from the
Roman legion recruited by
Galba from
Iberians, which established the site of the city to protect the territory from the wild mountaineers of
Asturias and
Cantabria, and to secure the transport of
gold extracted in the province, especially in
Las Médulas. (
Dion Cass. iv. 24;
Tac. Hist. ii. 11, iii. 25;
Suet. Galba, 10.) Tacitus calls the legion
Galbiana, to distinguish it from the old
Legio VII Claudia, but this appellation is not found on any inscriptions. It appears to have received the appellation of
Gemina (respecting the use of which, and
Gemella, see
Caesar B.C. iii. 3) on account of its amalgamation by
Vespasian with one of the German legions, not improbably the
Legio I Germanica Its full name was Legio VII Gemina Felix. After serving in Pannonia, and in the civil wars, it was settled by Vespasian in Hispania Tarraconensis, to supply the place of the Legio VI
Victrix and
Legio X Gemina, two of the three legions ordinarily stationed in the province, but which had been withdrawn to Germany. (Tac.
Hist. ii. 11, 67, 86, iii. 7, 10, 21--25, iv. 39; Inscr.
ap. Gruter, p. 245, no. 2.)
That its regular winter quarters, under later emperors, were at Leon, we learn from the Itinerary, Ptolemy, and the
Notitiae Imperii, as well as from a few inscriptions (Muratori, p. 2037, no. 8, A.D. 130; p. 335, nos. 2, 3, A.D. 163; p. 336, no. 3, A.D. 167; Gruter, p. 260, no. 1, A.D. 216); but there are numerous inscriptions to prove that a strong detachment of it was stationed at Tarraco (modern
Tarragona), the chief city of the province.
The post-Roman history of the city is largely the history of the
Kingdom of León. The station of the legion in Asturias grew into an important city, which resisted the attacks of the
Visigoths till A.D.
586, when it was taken by
Leovigild; and it was one of the few cities which the Visigoths allowed to retain their fortifications. During the struggle with the
Muslim invaders, the same fortress, which the Romans had built to protect the plain from the incursions of the mountaineers, became the advanced post which covered the mountain, as the last refuge of Spanish independence. After yielding to the first assault of the Moors, in
712, it was recovered was restored by
Ordoño I of Asturias around
850.
Towards the year
846, a group of Mozarabs (christian Spaniards who did not flee for the Muslims and lived under the Muslim regime) tried to repopulate the city, but a Muslim attack prevented that initiative. In the year
856, under the Christian king Ordoño I, another attempt at repopulation was made and was successful.
Ordoño II made León the capital of his Kingdom of León (
914) and the most important of the
Christian cities in Iberia.
Sacked by
Almanzor in about
987, the city was reconstructed and repopulated by
Alfonso V, whose Decree of
1017 regulated its economic life, including the functioning of its markets. León was a way-station for
pilgrims on the
Camino de Santiago leading to
Santiago de Compostela.
Suburbs for traders and artisans sprang up, who, after the
13th century, began to influence the municipal government. During the early
Middle Ages, the
livestock industry produced a period of prosperity for the city. In the
16th century, economic and
demographic decline set in and continued until the
19th century. In July
1936, during the
Spanish Civil War, León joined the war against the Republicans.
During the 1960s, León experienced much growth due to inmigration from the rural zones of the province.
In 1983 León was joined to the neighbouring region of
Castile, in spite of popular and local political movement between it; because that and centralism practised from Valladolid, the city where autonomous govern is, since then, León is the center of a politic (and always pacific) movement for Leonese autonomism. Some of leonese people support the idea of creating a Léonese
autonomous community formed by the
provinces of
Salamanca,
León and
Zamora, which have traditionally composed Leonese Region.
The most notable monuments are the
Cathedral, with its excellent stain glassed windows, the
Basilica de San Isidoro, with its Romanesque paintings and the boarding house of San Marcos, with its plateresque façade. One can also find the
Casa de Botines, a neogothic styled building and an excellent example of the arquitecture of
Antoni Gaudí. The
Palacio de los Guzmanes, the site of the provincial
diputación (parliament), contains an impressive patio in the plateresque style by
Gil de Hontañón. The old quarter of the city conserves a large part of the medieval wall and some remains of the original Roman wall. Visitors are obliged to visit the
Barrio Humedo (the drinking and partying area) and the
Plaza del Grano.
Among the Leonese customs,
Semana Santa (holy week) during which there are numerous processions through the centre of the city stands out. One of the most beautiful is the so called Procession of the Meeting which acts out the meeting of three groups representing Saint John, the Virgin Mary and Christ in the explanade in front of the Cathedral. Associated with Semana Santa is the pagan procession for the burial of
Genarín, a poor person run over by the first rubbish truck in León. The procession consists of a march through the city with
Orujo (an alcoholic drink) at the head of the procession to the front of the city walls where the man was supposedly run over and then leaving cheese, a bottle of Orujo and two oranges at the spot.
In the last municipal elections (25 of May 2003) the results were:
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Partido Popular (38,5% of the votes and 12 councilmen seats)
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Partido Socialista Obrero Español (34,24% and 10 seats)
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Unión del Pueblo Leonés (19,24% and 5 councilmen)
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Izquierda Unida (2,59%)
Currently the mayor is
Mario Amilivia from the
Partido Popular.
Within the wide range of leonese food the following dishes are very important:
cecina (cured, smoked beef),
morcilla (a kind of blood sausage),
botillo (different pieces of cured pork meat), garlic soup, el
cocido leonés (a mix of meat with vegetables and chickpeas, served after a vegetable-vermicelli soup) and
mantecadas (a sweet).Another very important part of the gastronomy of León are the "tapas" you can get in most of the many bars in the city. The most important thing about these tapas is that they are free unlike in most cities in Spain. It is a very common thing to do to go "de tapas" i.e. to go for a few drinks ("un corto", which is a very small beer, "una caña", which is roughly half a pint of beer or "un vino," a glass of wine) just before lunch but more normally as a light form of dinner.
The main teams of the city are:
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Ademar León:
ASOBAL handball team.
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Baloncesto León:
Liga Española de Baloncesto basketball team
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Kingdom of León*
Leon (province)*
List of municipalities in León*
Castile and León*
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León City Council (in Spanish)
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Camino de Santiago
