León

Leon was once the capital of the medieval kingdom of the same name; before that, it was a Roman city, and was named after the Roman legion that was stationed there. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, and that evening, crowds of people walked up and down the pedestrian street in front of our hotel and down to the lovely Gothic cathedral not far away. In fact, the whole of the old city was a beautiful walking area.

A building, now a bank headquarters, built by the famous
Spanish architect, Gaudi, to look like a medieval castle.

Across the street, a Renaissance mansion in
the Italian style, now a government building.

The medieval monastery of San Isidoro, built in the
eleventh century, and the burial place of the kings of Leon.

Some details of the Romanesque carvings on the monastery's exterior.

A stork family living on top of a column in a public square!

The streets of old Leon.

The Gothic cathedral of Leon, built in the French style.

A detail of the cathedral's facade: the torments of hell!

A postcard of the cathedral of Leon from the air.