Las Médulas, in the region of El Bierzo, not far from Ponferrada, declared a Unesco site in 1997, is an amazingly dramactic and beautiful landscape with undulating rock formations reminiscent of the Wild west, first created by the Romans in their seach for gold. They used thousands of slaves to dig galleries in the mountains, one over 25 miles long! to extract the gold, creating this bizarre landscape resembling a jagged spinal cord. Las Médulas are particularly outstanding in the Spring and Autumn when the ancient chestnut trees are in bloom and in leaf.