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What to see and do in Villamayor

What to see and do in Villamayor (La Armuña, Salamanca): 3 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Nature · 1 Historical milestones

Towns near Villamayor

Spain › Castile and León › Salamanca › La Armuña › Villamayor

What to see and do in Villamayor

Villamayor
Village
Villamayor is a municipality in the province of Salamanca (Castile and León), in the comarca of La Armuña, five kilometres from the capital, next to the river Tormes. Founded during the medieval resettlement by the kings of León, it already appeared under its present name in the 13th century; it remained a crown town until Philip III ceded it as a lordship to Juan Álvarez Maldonado in the 17th century. In 1774 lightning struck the belfry of its church of San Miguel Arcángel without causing casualties, an event recalled by an inscription preserved in the village. With about 7,700 inhabitants, it gives its name to the golden stone with which the cathedrals of Salamanca, the Casa de las Conchas and its Plaza Mayor were built; its quarries, documented since the 16th century, still support a good part of its economy.
The golden stone quarries
Nature
From these quarries, documented since the sixteenth century, comes the sandstone known as Villamayor stone: soft when extracted and golden on contact with the air. With it were built the cathedrals, the Casa de las Conchas and the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca.
El Centellazo
Historical milestone
On 1 August 1774 a lightning bolt entered through the bell tower of the church of San Miguel Arcángel seeking earth, without causing casualties. The event was recorded in a slate inscription that the village preserves and that calls the episode the Centellazo.