Ponferrada

Ponferrada is the capital city of El Bierzo in the Province of Leon, Spain. It lies on Sil River and it is totally encompassed by mountains. It is the keep going real town on the French course of the Camino de Santiago before it achieves Santiago de Compostela. In 2008, it had a populace of 69,769. In pre-Roman occasions the area was populated by the Astures, a Hispano-Celtic Gallaecian individuals.

They were vanquished by Emperor Augustus in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars and the territory rapidly turned into the biggest mining focal point of the Empire amid the Roman time frame, where gold and different metals and minerals were separated. Various Roman mining locales are as yet noticeable in the region, a standout amongst the most terrific being Las Medulas, an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

Romans likewise imported grapevines, and wine creation flourished in the area until the engendering of Phylloxera toward the finish of the 19th century, which crushed most of the vineyards. The cutting edge name of the city gets from the iron fortifications added to the antiquated extension over the stream Sil, authorized in 1082 by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to encourage the intersection of the Sil River to travelers in their approach to Santiago de Compostela.