Castilla y Leon information
Camino de la Lengua Castellana (Route of Castilian Language)
Castilla y León, known as the birthplace
of the Castellano language, offers one of the most historical
and cultural routes of today.
The purpose of the Route of Castilian Language is to show tourists
how and where one of the most important languages in the world
developed; to find out the origin and evolution of what is known
today as the Spanish language.
This 700 km route takes in the three regions of La Rioja, Castilla
y León and Madrid. In the year 2000, these 3 governments,
the Town Hall in Salamanca, Ávila, Valladolid and Álcala de Henares
and the Diputación in Valladolid, set up the Fundación
de la Lengua Castellana (Castilian Language Foundation) as a means
of promoting the route in an effort to have it declared a European
Cultural Route.
The extraordinary beauty of some areas, the wild landscape and rich vegetation combined with a wide variety of gastronomy and the liveliness and universality of the cities, all make up this route which has proven to be an interesting attraction for tourists.
Illustrious writers as Elio Antonio de Nebrija, Miguel de Cervantes, Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Unamuno, Santa Teresa de Jesús or the contemporary author, Miguel Delibes will enrich the tourists' visit with their work.
The Route of Castilian Language takes tourists back to the 11th
century to the Glosas Emilianenses which is considered the oldest
book written in the Castellano language. Gradually tourists will
be taken to the 14th century when the first grammar book, Gramática
de la Lengua Castellana, was written by Nebrija, playing an important
part in the writings of Spanish literature's most universally
known figure, Miguel de Cervantes.
Source: Web server of Instituto de Turismo de España, TURESPAÑA.