Leon information:
Ponferrada: Museum of El Bierzo
It is worth a visit to the Museum of El Bierzo,
situated in Calle del Reloj. The museum is located in the building
which was the former prison. Its facilities provide an introduction
to the historic legacy of Ponferrada and the surrounding area
displaying objects, tools and various works of art. The ground
floor of the museum which is dedicated to primitive settlements
from the Lower Paleolithic age to the end of the Roman period,
has a collection of ceramics, stone tools and other pieces. Relevant
from this period is a room devoted to the hill-forts, small pre-Roman
settlements which were established in large numbers all over the
area.
From the Middle Ages, the Museum preserves a valuable collection
of sculpture, paintings and precious metalwork. The socio-economic
changes experienced in El Bierzo in recent centuries are also
featured in this exhibition, especially the development of the
mining industry. The tour of the museum ends in rooms relating
to different aspects of the region such as the landscape, the
fauna and the flora.
On the outskirts of Ponferrada are another of its architectural
jewels. One of them is the Church of Santo Tomás de las
Ollas, a Mozarab temple built in the 10th century, rectangular
in shape and with a Romanesque main front (12th century). Particularly
interesting inside is the Main Chapel, an original work formed
by nine horseshoe arches crowned by an irregular polygon of eleven
sides.
Source: Web server of Instituto de Turismo de España, TURESPAÑA.