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What to see and do in Castrogonzalo

What to see and do in Castrogonzalo (Benavente y Los Valles, Zamora): 2 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Nature

Towns near Castrogonzalo

Spain › Castile and León › Zamora › Benavente y Los Valles › Castrogonzalo

What to see and do in Castrogonzalo

Castrogonzalo
Village
Castrogonzalo is a municipality of 430 inhabitants in the comarca of Benavente y Los Valles, in Zamora, made up of Castrogonzalo and Paradores de Castrogonzalo; it arose from the hillfort on the El Castillo rise, 758 metres above the river Esla, an Iron Age settlement reoccupied in medieval times, and part of its territory lies within the Penillanuras-Campos Sur Special Protection Area for Birds. Its name recalls a Mozarab cited in a document of the year 936 as Castrum Gundisalvo iben Muza, whose territory marked the boundary of the diocese of León; the village was a crossing point over the Esla thanks to its bridge, on the road to the Lampreana. Its coat of arms and flag were approved in 1975.
The Penillanuras-Campos Sur ZEPA
Nature
Part of the municipal boundary falls within this Special Protection Area for birds; the Esla here marks the natural limit of the municipality and receives the waters of the Cea, at around 714 metres above sea level. The ZEPA (Special Protection Area for Birds), covering almost 24,000 hectares split between Zamora and Valladolid, occupies a steppe-like peneplain of dryland cereal crops between the Cea and Valderaduey rivers, in the heart of the Tierra de Campos, and borders to the south the ZEPA of the Villafáfila lagoons. It is especially important for steppe birds such as Montagu's harrier, the marsh harrier, the lesser kestrel, the little bustard and, above all, the great bustard, of which it holds a large breeding population of national and international importance; the white stork, the black kite and the stone-curlew also breed here.