Sunset in the largest open pit gold mine of the Roman Empire (Las Médulas-Spain): Qurator`s Photo Quest Wonderland (ENG-ESP)

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(Edited)

Las Médulas: The largest open pit gold mine of the Roman Empire. Photography submitted to the contest

English

Hi friends. This is my first foray and hopefully not the last in the #Qurator community. This afternoon, while I was having lunch in a restaurant in the city of El Ejido, very close to Almeria (Spain) reviewing my #ecency application, I went inside to see the latest publications of @qurator and at that moment captured my attention the post about the Qurator´s Photo Quest Wonderland published a few days ago and before seeing the bases for participation made me think which of the places I have visited I would select as a wonderful place.

If this question had come to me more than a week ago, I am almost certain that I would have chosen without hesitation some beach or cliff from which I love to go fishing. However, last week everything changed when I was in the region of El Bierzo (León-Spain) for work reasons and after a conversation with one of my clients she told me to go to the viewpoint of Orellan near a small village called Las Medulas which is located 25 kilometers from Ponferrada and gave me as a recommendation that previously I should not look at information on the internet so that everything would surprise me more.

Following my client's advice, after finishing the training course she was giving in her laboratory, I went to the hotel to change my clothes and I made this 25 kilometers journey to the Orellan viewpoint. By surprise, when there were 600 meters to reach the viewpoint there was a large barrier that prevented me from continuing the way in the car and that's when I left the car parked in the parking lot that is there enabled.

When I got out of the car, the first thing I saw was some spectacular mountain scenery and I was almost ready to get back in the car and return to Ponferrada.

It was then, when I saw that along the road that I could not follow my way in the car several people were coming down saying that they had never seen anything like what they had seen from the viewpoint. At that moment, it was when without hesitation I climbed the 600 meters of slope along the road that has an inclination of about 18% slope and after 20 minutes of walking that I took advantage of to take pictures of the landscapes.

When I reached the viewpoint my eyes began to fill with more joy because perhaps I saw what for me is the most wonderful place I have ever visited

This place itself is an old gold mine from Roman times, according to the information that is in the viewpoint in Roman times, in that place there was a large mountain where in the innermost part there was gold in the form of solid nuggets, so that the Romans devised a form of extraction which consisted of making large vertical shafts, in turn make a horizontal galleries and then channeled water from nearby streams and rivers to flood the galleries and thus get that part of the mountain collapsed. Subsequently, water was channeled back over the collapse and downstream they had a system that allowed the denser minerals such as gold to be retained, while the less dense rocks continued on their way with the channeled water.

As a result of all this excavation that was carried out over centuries, the result is a magical place today, which in turn with the light of the sunset and the green of the vegetation makes it my current magical place, no doubt.

Kind regards.

Original photos taken with my iPhone SE.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version).

Español

Hola amigos. Esta es mi primera incursión y espero que no la última en la comunidad #Qurator. En la tarde de hoy, mientras me encontraba almorzando en un restaurante de la ciudad de El Ejido, muy próxima a Almería (España) revisando mi aplicación de #ecency, me adentre a ver las últimas publicaciones de @qurator y en ese momento captó mi atención el post sobre el Qurator´s Photo Quest Wonderland publicado hace unos días y antes de ver las bases para su participación me hizo pensar que lugar de los que he visitado seleccionaría como un lugar maravilloso.

Si esta pregunta hubiese llegado a mí hace más de una semana, estoy casi seguro que habría escogido sin dudarlo alguna playa o acantilado desde los cuales me encanta ir de pesca. Sin embargo, la semana pasada todo cambio cuando por motivos laborales estuve en la comarca del Bierzo (León-España) y tras una conversación con una de mis clientes me dijo que fuese al mirador de Orellan cercano a un pequeño pueblo llamado Las Medulas que se encuentra a 25 kilómetros de Ponferrada y me dio como recomendación que previamente no mirase información en internet para que todo me sorprendiese más.

Haciendo caso a mi clienta, tras terminar el curso de formación que estaba impartiendo en su laboratorio, me desplace al hotel a cambiarme de ropa y me hice este trayecto de 25 kilómetros hasta el mirador de Orellan. Por sorpresa, cuando quedaban 600 metros para llegar al mirador había una gran barrera que impedía continuar el camino en el coche y fue entonces cuando deje el coche aparcado en el parking que hay allí habilitado.

Al bajarme del coche, lo primero que vi fue unos paisajes de montaña espectaculares y casi ya conforme estuve a punto de subirme de nuevo al coche y volver a Ponferrada.

Fue entonces, cuando vi que por la carretera que no podía seguir mi camino en el coche bajaban varias personas diciendo que nunca habían visto nada igual a lo que habían observado desde el mirador. En ese momento, fue cuando sin dudarlo un momento más, ascendí los 600 metros de ladera por la carretera que tiene una inclinación cercana al 18% de desnivel y tras 20 minutos de caminata que fui aprovechando para hacer fotos de los paisajes.

Cuando llegué al mirador mis ojos empezaron a llenarse de más alegría porque tal vez vi el que para mí es el lugar más maravilloso que he visitado.

Este lugar en sí se tratan de una antigua mina de oro de la época romana, según la información que hay en el mirador en la época romana, en ese lugar había una gran montaña donde en la parte más interior había oro en forma de pepitas sólidas, de forma que los romanos idearon una forma de extracción que consistía en hacer grandes pozos verticales, a su vez hacer unas galerías horizontales y posteriormente canalizaban agua de los arroyos y ríos cercanos para inundar las galerías y con ello conseguir que se desplomase parte de la montaña. Posteriormente, volvía a canalizar agua sobre el derrumbe y aguas abajo tenían un sistema que permitían que los minerales más densos como el oro quedase retenidos, mientras que las rocas menos densas continuaban su camino con el agua canalizada.

Fruto de todas esta excavaciones que se fueron ejecutando durante siglos, el resultado es un lugar mágico en la actualidad y que a su vez con la luz del atardecer y con el verde de la vegetación hace que sea mi lugar mágico actual, sin duda.

Un cordial saludo.

Fotografías originales sacadas con mi iPhone SE.



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30 comments
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Wow what breathtaking views indeed! Lucky that your work takes you around that you can also visit amazing places. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us :) happy midweek!


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This post has been curated by the Alive And Thriving Team, we curate good content in the We Are Alive Tribe that is on topic for #AliveAndThriving, and it's included in our daily curation report on @aliveandthriving.

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Amazing my friend @castri-ja thanks for sharing some really awasome pictures have a wonderful day !ALIVE

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Thanks to you for reading, commenting and voting the post. Regards

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No problem my friend have a blessed and wonderful one
@castri-ja !ALIVE
!CTP
!BBH

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Son muy buenas imagenes, se le agradece por compartirlas.

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Gracias por el comentario.
A ver si consigo terminar un post sobre los 3 dias que pasé la semana pasada por esa zona con multitud de gratas sorpresas turísticas.

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Eso sería genial, en verdad. Colecciono imágenes desde hace años, y esas que nos mostró en la publicación, son realmente buenas.

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Incredibly beautiful scenery, very interesting photos

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Esto es precioso, espectacular. Bellas fotografías.

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Gracias

Estoy preparando un reportaje mas amplio con mis puntos de interés de la zona durante mi estancia de 3 días. Espero terminarlo durante la noche de hoy y publicarlo mañana.

Saludos

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Son una locura los paisajes. Esperamos la próxima entrega para disfrutarla.

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Wow. The place looks so nice.

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It is a magical place. I have fallen in love with it

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Unbelievable. First time I know of such a beautiful landscape that is a product of man's activities and nature at the same time.

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I suspect that it was nature that improved the landscape by filling the surrounding area with trees.

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I agree. If it didn't look so green, it wouldn't be so magical. Best of luck in the contest, my friend. Regards.

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