Logbook · 2 places

What to see and do in Priaranza del Bierzo

What to see and do in Priaranza del Bierzo (El Bierzo, León): 2 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments

How far each place is from the centre of Priaranza del Bierzo

Castle of Cornatel 3.3 km

Towns near Priaranza del Bierzo

What to see in Borrenes 5.2 km · 2 places
What to see in Carracedelo 7.3 km · 2 places
What to see in Ponferrada 7.5 km · 4 places
What to see in Camponaraya 7.8 km · 2 places
What to see in Carucedo 8.1 km · 3 places
What to see in Toral de los Vados 9.6 km · 1 place
What to see in Cacabelos 11 km · 2 places
What to see in Cabañas Raras 12 km · 2 places

Spain › Castile and León › León › El Bierzo › Priaranza del Bierzo

What to see and do in Priaranza del Bierzo

Priaranza del Bierzo
Village
Priaranza del Bierzo is a municipality in the comarca of El Bierzo, in the province of León, bilingual in Leonese and Galician, with about 670 inhabitants at 512 metres of altitude; it also comprises the localities of Villalibre de la Jurisdicción, Santalla del Bierzo, Paradela de Muces, Villavieja and Ferradillo. In Paradela de Muces lies the castro de Peña del Hombre, inhabited by the Astures in pre-Roman times. It owns the castle of Cornatel, which Enrique Gil y Carrasco made the setting of El señor de Bembibre; its origin goes back to a military detachment set up to defend the Roman gold workings of Las Médulas, and it belonged to the Templars between 1211 and 1312.
Castle of Cornatel
Monument
The castle of Cornatel is a medieval fortress located in Villavieja, in the municipality of Priaranza del Bierzo, in El Bierzo, declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 22 April 1949. It sits on a rocky promontory cut by a ravine more than 180 metres deep; on the sides with easier access it is protected by a wall with a battlemented walkway. It is identified with the castle of Ulver mentioned in early medieval sources, whose first known holder appears in the early 11th century. By 1228 it was already in the hands of the Templars, who kept it until the order's suppression in 1312. Its present name, Cornatel, is first documented in 1378. Taken by the irmandiños in 1467, it inspired Enrique Gil y Carrasco's novel El señor de Bembibre.