Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Bercianos del Páramo

What to see and do in Bercianos del Páramo (El Páramo, León): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Bercianos del Páramo

Hermitage of el Cristo de las Eras 350 m

Towns near Bercianos del Páramo

Spain › Castile and León › León › El Páramo › Bercianos del Páramo

What to see and do in Bercianos del Páramo

Bercianos del Páramo
Village
Bercianos del Páramo is a municipality of about 510 inhabitants situated in the Páramo Leonés, the flat plateau that stretches between the valleys of the Órbigo and Esla rivers, in the province of León. Its origins possibly go back to the 9th-century resettlement led by Count Gatón, on the orders of Ordoño I, and its first documentary mention dates from 917. From the 14th century, the Osorio and Quiñones families held sway over the place until the end of the Middle Ages. Its church of San Vicente, of 16th-17th-century brick, holds a Baroque altarpiece with 15th-century Gothic panels; beside it, the hermitage of the Cristo de la Vera Cruz is also a landmark for the neighbouring village of San Pedro Bercianos, because of the custom of ringing its bell to ward off hail.
Church of San Vicente de Bercianos
Monument
A brick church of the 16th and 17th centuries built over an earlier Gothic one. Its Baroque altarpiece reuses Gothic panels from the mid-15th century, and in the nave a black Virgin 81 centimetres tall, dated between the 12th and 13th centuries, is venerated.
Hermitage of el Cristo de las Eras
Monument
A brick building on a rectangular plan with a small altarpiece sheltering the Cristo de las Eras. Its doors open only two days a year: 3 May for the Holy Cross and 14 September for the Christ.
Steppe birdlife of the Páramo
Nature
Over the cereal plains fly great bustards, kestrels and sparrowhawks, while the riverbanks support barbel, Duero nase, bermejuela and otter. Near the villages the white stork, the rook and the red kite are common.
The bell-ringing against storms
Curiosity
Every year on Saint Sylvester's day the Confraternity of the Santo Cristo chose a constable-bellringer whose task was to swing the hermitage's small bell without pause as soon as a storm was seen coming, to keep the hail off the crops.
First mention of Bercianos del Páramo
Historical milestone
The place is cited in church records in connection with donations to the church of León. Its origin is attributed to the resettlement that Count Gatón directed in the 9th century at the behest of Ordoño I.
Arrival of irrigation in the Páramo
Historical milestone
After the building of the Barrios de Luna reservoir, opened in 1956, irrigation spread through much of the comarca, with enormous social and economic consequences: maize and sugar beet joined the dry-farmed wheat and barley.
Páramo pastries and limonada
Food and drink
Marzipan, ring doughnuts, almond biscuits, orejas, puff pastries and sequillos make up the traditional sweets of the comarca, served with lemonade. On the savoury side, garlic soup and the products of the pig-killing: black puddings, chorizos, jijas and loin.