Las Médulas

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Las Médulas, located near the town of Ponferrada in León province, Spain, used to be the most important gold mine in the Roman Empire. Las Médulas Cultural Landscape is listed by the UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites.

The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the Ruina Montium, a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder consisting in the perforation of the mountain and latter irruption of great quantities of water that literally pulled the mountain down, a precedent of Californian hydraulic mining.

To bring the necessary water from the Sierra de La Cabrera mountains to Las Médulas a system of channels more than hundred kilometers long was constructed, and some of its portions are still conserved.

Description of Las Médulas in Pliny the Elder's Natural History

"What happens in Las Medulas is far beyond the work of giants. The mountains are bored with corridors and galleries made by lamplight with a duration that is used to measure the shifts. For months, the miners cannot see the sunlight and many of them die inside the tunnels. This type of mine has been given the name of Ruina Montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock. How dangerous we have made the Earth!"

Pliny also stated that 20,000 Roman pounds of gold were extracted each year. The exploitation, involving 60,000 free workers, brought 5,000,000 Roman pounds (1,650,000 kg) in 250 years.

References

Lewis, P. R. and G. D. B. Jones, "Roman gold-mining in north-west Spain," Journal of Roman Studies 60 (1970): 169-85

Also See

• Dolaucothi
• Roman technology
• Roman aqueducts

External links

• Webpage of Fundación Las Médulas, with itineraries, virtual visit and practical information
• UNESCO official website
• Photo gallery and explanation of the explotaition system
• "Las Médulas, the Roman El Dorado". and Article by the Leonese writer Julio Llamazares.

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Last updated on Friday March 14, 2008 at 01:06:40 PDT (GMT -0700)
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