Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in Villablino

What to see and do in Villablino (La Montaña de Luna, León): 10 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Villablino

Romanesque church of Robles de Laciana 3.3 km

Towns near Villablino

What to see in Palacios del Sil 12 km · 2 places
What to see in Cabrillanes 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Murias de Paredes 14 km · 8 places
What to see in Somiedo 19 km · 3 places
What to see in Páramo del Sil 19 km · 3 places
What to see in Degaña 21 km · 11 places
What to see in Igüeña 24 km · 2 places
What to see in San Emiliano 26 km · 7 places

Spain › Castile and León › León › La Montaña de Luna › Villablino

What to see and do in Villablino

Villablino
Village
Villablino is the capital of the Leonese comarca of Laciana, between Babia, Omaña, El Bierzo and Asturias, and is the largest commercial and social centre in the northwest of the province of León. It is crossed by the river Sil, which forms the Las Rozas reservoir, used for hydroelectric power and irrigation; despite its mountain setting, the valley floor gives it a mild climate, with average temperatures of around 10 degrees. Pre-Roman hillforts have been found on its municipal land, such as the Castro de la Zamora, inhabited by the pesicos, a tribe of the Astures. Laciana is today a biosphere reserve, with bears and capercaillies, and it is said that Villablino had the highest GDP per capita in Spain between 1921 and 1926 thanks to coal; from 15,628 residents in 1996 it has fallen to about 7,600 after the mining crisis.
Romanesque church of Robles de Laciana
Monument
Consecrated in 1090, it is the oldest church in the Laciana valley and one of the few Romanesque remnants in this corner of the western León mountains, raised centuries before coal transformed the comarca.
Chapel of las Rozas
Monument
Built in 1646 in the settlement of Las Rozas de Laciana, it holds an altarpiece by Pedro Sánchez de Agrela, a Baroque piece of remarkable quality for a village chapel in the heart of the mountain range.
Biosphere Reserve of the Laciana Valley
Nature
Declared by Unesco's MaB committee in 2003, this reserve of 217 square kilometres protects the mountain pastures, beech forests and birch groves of the Laciana valley, in the northwest of the province of León, which sustain populations of Cantabrian brown bear and capercaillie, both in a critical state in Spain. Before its declaration as a biosphere reserve it had already been classified a Special Protection Area for Birds and included in the Natura 2000 network for its ornithological richness, and it is included in the Natural Resources Management Plan of the sierra de Ancares nature area precisely because of the importance of these bear and capercaillie populations.
Settlement charter of Alfonso X to Villablino
Historical milestone
In 1270 Alfonso X granted Villablino a charter of settlement, making the valley crown land and freeing it from seigneurial dependence; that document lies at the origin of the council organisation that ordered Laciana for centuries.
The Black March of the Laciana miners
Historical milestone
In 1992, faced with the announcement of closures in the coalfield, close to five hundred Laciana miners set out on foot for Madrid in what became known as the Black March, one of the most remembered workers' mobilisations of the industrial restructuring.
Mercau Tsacianiegu de Villablino
Activity
A traditional market held in August that fills the streets with stalls of crafts and old trades; its central event is the re-enactment of a Laciana wedding with the valley's own dress and ritual.
Procession of the Christ of the Miners
Curiosity
On Good Friday the brotherhood carries out the Cristo de los Mineros dressed in pit working clothes, helmet and lamp included, an image that sums up the identity of a comarca marked by a century of coal.
Fisuelos of Laciana (fried sweet)
Food and drink
A pan-fried sweet made with a thin batter of flour, egg and milk that is fried until crisp and dusted with sugar; it is the dessert associated with winter and with the valley's traditional festivities.
Botillo and cecina of Laciana
Food and drink
Laciana cooking rests on the pig slaughter: botillo, chorizo and cecina accompany the bean and meat broths that for generations fed miners and stockbreeders in a valley of long winters.