We went with friends to see a traditional Good Friday procession from a Monastery (Las Ermitas?) up through an old village. The Monastery was built into the stone cliff at the edge of the river Sil and the procession was already half way up the winding hillside path when we met it. The procession consisted of the congragation carrying a figure of Jesus on the cross which looked quite heavy. This was followed by two figures of Mary. Some taking part in the procession wore costumes but nothing like those seen in the huge processions of Sevilla. You can just about spot the monastery in the picture blending into the hillside. A lot of the surrounding hills were covered in abandoned vine terraces an indication of the difference in population levels between the past and the present and how much more the land was worked in the past.
From here we visited an amazing geographical feature called Las Medulas on the border between Leon and Galicia. The Romans created surface lakes and dug caves into the cliffs. They then let the lakes wash down through the caves taking the mountain with it which allowed them to pan through the remains at the bottom for their precious gold. We were allowed inside some of the red sandstone like caves to take a closer look. Unfortunately no gold was found!
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