Roman Villa of La Olmeda

Some miles east of Leon, in the province of Palencia, still in Castille y Leon, is the Roman villa of La Olmeda, its ruins discovered only in 1968, and now another ancient site beautifully protected, preserved and presented by the Spanish government. La Olmeda dates from the 3rd and 4th centuries, one of apparently many villas in the region. From the excellent video shown at the site, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYF541T2gbg, one can see La Olmeda was no mere retreat nor holiday house for elites, but rather an agricultural center, a predecessor to the feudal system associated with later centuries. What attracted and impressed us were the mosaics. Virtually the whole villa floor was done in mosaics, many still quite intact. If not the best mosaics we have seen in the Roman world, they are certainly the largest single site, and in situ too. The complex is completely enclosed now under controlled conditions, and the presentation is high tech and quite accessible.

The aire de camping-cars in Leon; we lucked into the only shade
there was, which we happily bequeathed to fellow Nederlanders
when we left

Approaching the La Olmeda complex; it reminded us of the
Terra Cotta Warriors complex in Xian, and also the neolithic
village preserved there

Inside; a couple or more acres thus enclosed

Helpful digital model; a residence for the owners plus housing
for tenants, household areas, baths, manufacturing areas, etc.

Basically you walk around and through the villa on catwalks

The mosaics are mostly intricate designs, some running nearly
the length of the villa

 

The main hall had a giant mosaic, hunting scenes, Hercules
and other mythological scenes

The usual Roman under-floor heating system

 

Contemporary mosaic repair/reconstruction
implements

A very long mosaic run; longest we have seen anywhere

The one reconstruction... the bit of grass in the upper left shows
the surface when the villa ruins were discovered in 1968; all
this mosaic was only a foot or two beneath the fields then

Lost and found; mostly replicas; the real finds, very limited,
are in a town museum nearby

Very neat place; the YouTube videos are well worth watching;
and in English too

Real Time Update #119

Our mifi expired after we left Leon, June 20th, and with less than a week to go, we didn't re-up. Consequently, I fell somewhat behind in blogging. Today is July 1st, and I still have half a dozen posts to do from Spain and Andorra (!). After putting Le Duc into storage in Figueres, we took the bus to Barcelona, stayed there overnight, and then flew, via Helsinki (!), back to San Francisco, June 27th, picked up Le Sport from storage in Union City, and have been parked in Rebecca's driveway since. Jet lag, a scheduled dental procedure, and an issue with Le Sport's refrigerator (a loose wire, it turned out) have kept us occupied, but not as pleasantly as seeing our Sweet Pea and her parents.

Flamenco is very serious dance

Leon Scenes

As I said in a previous post, we really enjoyed Leon...

"Just go out there and get a hit!"

Leon is a major stop on the Camino Santiago Frances route

Pilgrim with severe blister problem

All kinds of Camino signage around

Beautiful old town

Genome store; wait, no...

Pilgrim sculpture, I think

Interesting old building: in fact, another early
Gaudi-before-he-was-Gaudi: the Casa de los
Botines

Not very welcoming

Now a bank building

Tyrion and Vicki; Spain had real games of
thrones

Lion and Castle

Old Camino albergue

Sooner or later you start seeing the yellow arrows in your sleep

Pilgrim's walking stick (not Black Diamond)

Sort of art nuvo

More pilgrims arriving every minute; we have noticed that on the
Frances they tend to be much more heavily laden than we were
on the Portuguese

Memorial to Charleton Heston 

One of my more abiding memories of Spain (atop a Roman
column)

Contemporary sculpture, difficult to tell where the sculpture
begins and the installation ends

Even the round-abouts are interesting