Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Alija del Infantado

What to see and do in Alija del Infantado (La Bañeza, León): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities

How far each place is from the centre of Alija del Infantado

Church of San Esteban de Alija 50 m
Bridge of la Vizana 2.8 km

Towns near Alija del Infantado

Spain › Castile and León › León › La Bañeza › Alija del Infantado

What to see and do in Alija del Infantado

Alija del Infantado
Village
Alija del Infantado, called Alija de los Melones until 1960, is a town in the province of León next to the río Órbigo, with about 555 inhabitants and the hamlets of La Nora del Río and Navianos de la Vega. It preserves the churches of San Verísimo and San Esteban, a castle-palace, the Vizana bridge and several springs of mineral-medicinal waters used since ancient times. Its carnival, the Antruejo, pits the Jurrus — masked with horns and toothed pincers that represent evil — against the Castrones — with glass masks and linen sacks that symbolise good; the fight ends with the victory of the Castrones and the burning of an effigy, the Gran Jurru. On 3 May the Cristo de la Veracruz is venerated in the church of San Verísimo, with a novena and an auction to carry it to the hermitage.
Church of San Esteban de Alija
Monument
A Catholic church in Alija del Infantado (León) whose original construction is thought to date from the 13th-14th centuries and which is believed to have once been part of a convent. On 6 May 1993 it was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), with the rank of monument, by a decree published six days later in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León, signed by the President of the Junta, Juan José Lucas, and the Minister of Culture, Emilio Zapatero Villalonga; it is the only protection of that rank in a municipality that until 1960 was called Alija de los Melones and which also includes the hamlets of La Nora del Río and Navianos de la Vega.
Castle-palace of Alija
Monument
The fortified residence of the lords of the town, which gave its name to the old Jurisdiction of Alixa de los Melones. It stands in the village centre, at some 740 metres of altitude, beside the Church of San Verísimo and the traditional cellars.
Bridge of la Vizana
Monument
A historic crossing over the río Órbigo at the southern end of the municipal boundary, very close to the border with the province of Zamora. For centuries it was one of the few reliable fords between the León Páramo and the lands of Benavente. La Vizana, already depopulated by the 19th century, has always been a strategic place and crossroads of routes: in Roman times it was a landmark on the Vía de la Plata, and in the Middle Ages a stretch of the Camino Mozárabe pilgrim route and a stage on the mounted postal route, giving its name to the Cañada Real de La Vizana, which was laid over the Roman road. Today, removed from the traffic that once passed through the area on the way to Astorga, it preserves a former 1770 post house converted into an inn-restaurant, next to a river beach popular in summer with bathers and anglers.
Mineral-medicinal springs of Alija
Nature
Several springs of mineral-medicinal water rise in the district and have been used by people from across the comarca since ancient times. They rise in a flood plain municipality at some 740 metres, among dug-out cellars and mud architecture.
Festival of el Cristo de la Veracruz
Activity
On 3 May the Christ is venerated in the Church of San Verísimo, with a novena and an auction offered as an act of piety: the highest bidder wins the right to carry the image into the hermitage at the end of the procession.