The best road cycling routes around Ponferrada

Stage of the Camino de Santiago. It goes from the vineyards of Bierzo to the green mountains of the mythical O Cebreiro pass

It is also known as Cruz de Fierro (Iron Cross). A mountain landmark (1504 m) that stands on the French Way in the mountains of León as it passes through the province of the same name, corresponding to the autonomous community of Castilla y León. 230 km from Santiago. It is one of the best-known and most symbolic places of all the Jacobean routes, and perhaps for this reason the most mythologised and exciting, with the Monte do Gozo de Santiago, the first place from which pilgrims on the French Way observe the city of Santiago.

The "iron cross" here on Monte Irago, which is legendary for many pilgrims on the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela to the grave of the Apostle James the Greater, has since been replaced by a copy at the original location. The cross, which appears comparatively small due to its enormous height, stands out from a constantly growing pile of stones at the top of a very long tree trunk. Many pilgrims take a stone with them on the Way of St. James and lay it here. This stone symbolizes the burdens and needs of the pilgrims (or their family members and friends at home), who in this way symbolically cast off their worries at this point with the stone, and can thus move on free of them.

Villafranca del Bierzo takes its name from French immigrants who (re)populated the region after the Reconquista and built a castle. Villafranca thus became a stop on the Camino. In later centuries it was the capital of a county. Here we find the Santiago church from 1186, the 16th century castle, the authentic Calle del Agua, the Plaza Mayor, the San Nicolas church, a Jesuit monastery and a former monastery church of San Francisco. Francis of Assisi founded the monastery in the 13th century on his pilgrimage to Santiago.

The "iron cross" here on Monte Irago, which is legendary for many pilgrims on the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela to the grave of the Apostle James the Greater, has since been replaced by a copy at the original location. The cross, which appears comparatively small due to its enormous height, is on the top of a very long tree trunk and protrudes from a constantly growing pile of stones. Many pilgrims take a stone with them on the Way of St. James and place it here. This stone symbolizes the burdens and hardships of the pilgrims (or their family members and friends at home), who symbolically cast off their worries at this point with the stone and can thus move on free of them.

At the end of the 11th century, Osmundo, Bishop of Astorga, ordered the construction of a bridge (partly made of iron = pons ferrata) over the Sil for the pilgrims on the Way of St. James, near which a settlement was built. At the "pons ferrata", the iron bridge, the Knights Templar built a huge castle on a surface area of 160 x 90 m to protect the pilgrims on the Way of St. James. The medieval castle complex was inhabited by the Knights Templar from 1178 to 1312. Source: Wikipedia

The Templars' heyday from the 12th to 14th centuries led to the construction of this mighty fortress, among other things to protect the pilgrims on the Way of St. James. The rampart on the city hill stands out impressively against the mountain backdrop and absolutely conforms to the stereotypical image of a knight's castle. It is sensationally well maintained and a feast for the eyes.

The order, often referred to simply as the "Order of the Knights Templar," whose full name is "Poor Knights of Christ and of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem," takes us mentally back to the 13th century. Founded in the Holy Land, it spread surprisingly quickly to many countries in Central Europe, and this castle complex in Ponferrada, northern Spain, was one of its numerous branches. The order gained notoriety through its dissolution in 1312 by the French king and the pope, and many of its members were burned at the stake as alleged heretics. The main reason for the dissolution, however, was not the members' human and religious misconduct (heresy), which was merely a pretext, but the legendary wealth of this order. King Philip IV of France primarily wanted to secure the treasures to bolster his coffers.