Ponferrada - Ponferrada Tours

Ponferrada is a beautiful city in the northwest of Spain. The second largest city in the county of León and the province of the region of El Bierzo. This region is formed by a tectonic hollow, flat in the center and surrounded by mountains. The Sil River provides a natural crossing between the fields of León and the mountains of Galicia. Ponferrada is located in the south part of the region, between the rivers Sil and Boeza, down the mountain range of the Aquilians, with over 2000 meters high.

The Tour of Ponferrada Old Town last around two hours and shows all the interesting highlights of the medieval town. The tour begins in the Front of the Castle, and goes up Gil y Carrasco Street to Holm Oak Square and its basilica, to continue along old town interesting streets to arrive to the Bierzo Museum, the Convent and the Gate and Clock Tower. It finishes after Town Hall Square in Gardens Street. The Tour of the old town explains the history, monuments, architecture, characters, symbols, elements, magic and legends of this fantastic medieval town, during a route of 2 hours along the streets of the old Ponferrada.

Situated in the Old Town the main tour sightseeing’s are the Templar Castle, the church of Saint Andrew , Gil y Carrasco Street, the Stables, the Radio Museum on the Manor House of García de las Llanas, the Basilica of Ponferrada, old medieval streets, the Gate and its Clock Tower, the Bierzo Museum on the Palace of the Counts of Toreno, the Convent and Monastery, the City Town Hall Square and the city Town Hall, and the Manor House of the Macias.

The origin of the city is closely linked to the Way of Saint James. It was inhabited since the Iron Age, although it was in the XI century, in the year 1080, when the construction of a bridge commissioned by the Bishop Osmundo with the help of the king Alfonso VI, increased the flow of pilgrims along Ponferrada. The second milestone arrives in the year 1178, when the templar knights are designated as guardians of the town, by the king Ferdinand II, in order to protect the pilgrims, serve the crown of León, and avoid conflicts between Leonese and Galician nobles competing for the territory.

The third major development for Ponferrada came in the XX century with the discovery in El Bierzo of minerals such as tungsten, iron and specially coal. In the year 1918 the parliament approves the construction on the Railway Line Ponferrada Villablino, to transport coal along the river Sil basin. That same year opens in the city the first thermal power plant, by the company M.S.P. Ponferrada Mining and Steel Company. In 1949, a second thermal plant Compostilla I was established as the headquarters of the National Electricity Company Endesa.

And yet one more thermal power plant would open in the Bárcena Dam, Compostilla II, of vital importance in the electricity supply in the late century. People from all over the country, and also from others, especially Portugal, Cape Verde and Pakistan, moved to El Bierzo to work in the mines, power plants and related industries. The population of the city grew exponentially. During the current century, Ponferrada has evolved into a modern city with all the services that someone can expect, as capital of Bierzo.

Ponferrada is a city rich in great monuments, most of them inside a comfortable and peaceful old town that goes from the Town Hall Square to the Front of the Castle. It is also called the city of the museums, as there are 5 in Ponferrada: The Bierzo Museum, The Radio Museum, The Railway Museum, the Light Factory and the Thermal Power Plant. The old town is full of life, with a vibrant atmosphere plenty of bars, restaurants, concerts, events and medieval scent on some of its streets.