For a long time, I couldn't place Las Medulas. I had stumbled across the name repeatedly when filling out my checklist. My only association was to the famed Velazquez painting in the Prado, Las Meninas. Thanks to Jay's review, the site jumped ahead in my internal queue. Wanting to visit friends across Spain for a late autumn escape, I settled on going to the North Western Spain as part of my  trip. Lesson learnt: Northern Spain in November is wet and cold.

Las Medulas is - as pointed out by previous reviewer's - not a huge area. The Romans mined the area extensively and created some stunning rock structures in the process. This is prime hiking territory (oh, Nan and his hiking), and I enjoyed my visit greatly.

There are multiple trails starting at the visitor center in Las Medulas. Essentially, you can do a ground loop visiting La Cuevona. The last bit is off limits without tour guide. Afterwards you can hike up to the Mirador of Orellan which gets you the best views of the area. It's also where the entry to the Roman mine is located (closed on Mondays).

On the upper plateau, there are ruins of an old canal the Romans used for water management. I would recommend hiking a small detour to Campo de Braña for the views and the canal. From Orellan, you can hike down to Carucedo instead of returning to Las Medulas. If hiking isn't your thing, start at the village of Orellan which is located on higher altitude and has a road to the Mirador.

The obvious comparison is with another Roman gold mine, the recently inscribed Rosia Montana. Las Medulla features the more iconic landscape. Rosia Montana meanwhile covers a way longer time period, running from antiquity to the 20th century. Both are missing major Roman ruins. Personally, I enjoyed both.

Finally, a small hint to the German WHC committee: It's a bit misplaced that the same country thinking about proposing the open pit mining landscape of the Lausitz or extending Zeche Zollverein to cover the whole Ruhrgebiet, is complaining about the natural destruction caused by the Romans 2000 years ago.

Getting There and Around

Closest major town is Ponferrada. There are train and bus connections across Spain. In my case, I came by train from Burgos. And left by the same train one day later to Monforte de Lemos.

From Ponferrada, I found two rather bad public transport options in the direction Las Medullas. During weekdays, there is a local bus company (Auspa) running busses between El Barco and Ponferrada. It was not clear to me what stops they take and when. First bus is at 6 a.m., second at noon. Alternatively, there is a 6 a.m. train to Monforte de Lemos. But it's quite a hike from the train station to the core site. Best option at 35 EUR one way is to get a cab. My hostal helped with it. Prices are fixed by the taxi company. For the return, the cabbie gave me his number and I simply sent him a whatsapp message to pick me up including location.

While You Are There

Ponferrada is on the Camino. I even think the Camino runs past Las Medulas. In Ponferrada, you have a templar castle and a small, but nice old town (around the castle). Last but not least, the town also boasts a restaurant with a Michelin star.

Next stops from Ponferrada are Lugo, Santiago de Compostela or A Coruna. Or you head to Monforte de Lemos for the Ribeira Sacra (T, 2023).