Las Medulas Leon El Bierzo La mayor mina de oro romana a cielo abierto #viajarporespaña

Las Médulas is a geographical area in Spain consisting of an ancient Roman gold mine located near the town of the same name, in the Bierzo region, province of León, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is considered the largest open-pit gold mine of the entire Roman Empire. Las Médulas was originally a Roman open-pit gold mine, although pre-Roman indigenous peoples had already exploited the deposit by panning the river placers. It is estimated that the Romans began working in the area during the reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus, who personally directed most of the operations between 26 and 19 BC. C. The Astures and Cantabrians definitively conquered the northern peoples of the Iberian Peninsula (the current toponym should not be confused with Mount Medulio, where the Cantabrian massacre took place; they preferred to kill themselves rather than surrender. However, the location of Mount Medulio is still debated). When gold was needed to mint coins, the aureus, weighing 1/40 of a Roman pound (approximately 8 grams), served as a reference point. With the fall of the Roman Empire, mining operations were abandoned. Extraction was carried out using the Ruina Montium method. Universohidalgo Music available at:    / universohidalgo