Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Valverde de la Virgen

What to see and do in Valverde de la Virgen (Tierras de León, León): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Valverde de la Virgen

Basilica of la Virgen del Camino 3.7 km

Towns near Valverde de la Virgen

Spain › Castile and León › León › Tierras de León › Valverde de la Virgen

What to see and do in Valverde de la Virgen

Valverde de la Virgen
Village
Valverde de la Virgen is a municipality in the province of León, in Castilla y León, part of the capital's metropolitan area, about 18 kilometers from it, at the confluence of the Raposeras stream and the Oncina stream, a tributary of the Esla. It has about 7,935 inhabitants. Until the municipal naming reform of 1916 it was called Valverde del Camino, a name that was then changed to the current one. Its locality of La Virgen del Camino, on the French Way to Santiago, holds the rationalist basilica built between 1957 and 1961, with the bronze frieze of thirteen figures sculpted by Subirachs. Since 2013 the municipality has held twinning ties with the French town of Aulnay-de-Saintonge.
Basilica of la Virgen del Camino
Monument
The Minor Basilica and Royal Sanctuary of the Virgen del Camino stands in the locality of La Virgen del Camino, in the municipality of Valverde de la Virgen, alongside the Camino Francés, on the way out of León towards Astorga. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) with monument status on 19 July 2018. It is dedicated to the Virgen del Camino, patroness of the León region and of the city of Pamplona. The current building, modern in style in both its architecture and its sculptural decoration, was built between 1957 and 1961 by the architect fray Coello de Portugal, replacing an earlier sanctuary that had become too small; its construction was funded in part thanks to the León-born patron Pablo Diez, owner of Grupo Modelo, and it is today run by the Dominican Order.
Streams of Las Raposeras and La Oncina
Nature
The municipality lies at the confluence of these two watercourses, in the alfoz of León and some eighteen kilometres from the provincial capital. Its banks preserve poplar groves and meadows between the villages of the Camino and the lands of the Valdoncina.
The Camino Francés through La Virgen del Camino
Activity
The pilgrim leaving León towards Santiago crosses the municipality of Valverde de la Virgen and passes by the sanctuary of the Virgen del Camino, a Marian devotion and patroness of the León region whose origin goes back, according to tradition, to an apparition in 1505 to a shepherd from Velilla de la Reina at the site of the Humilladero. The present basilica, built by the Dominicans and consecrated in 1961 partly thanks to the patron Pablo Diez, celebrates the Virgin's feast on 15 September. Past the sanctuary, the Camino Francés splits into two classic variants: the one that continues through Villar de Mazarife and the one that continues through Villadangos.
Valverde del Camino becomes Valverde de la Virgen
Historical milestone
The reform of municipal nomenclature changed in 1916 the name of the district, until then called Valverde del Camino, to link it to the Marian sanctuary that stands on its land, beside the exit from León.