León
León is the capital city of the Province of Leon and held the first European Parliament in 1188, creating laws that protected its people.
It was founded as a Roman military encampment in 29BC by the Roman legion Legion VI Victrix, serving under Caesar Augustus in their final stage of Roman conquest in Spain. In 74AD, Legion VII Gemina, under Emperor Hadrian, settled into the original encampment in order to protect their newly conquered territories and secure the transport of gold extracted from the nearby mines to Rome.
León is a splendor of various architectural styles from Gothic to Romanesque, Renaissance and finally Modernist. Some of the major places of interest are: Basilica of San Isidoro with its tombs of medieval monarchs; Santa Maria de León Cathedral (aka The House of Light) a Gothic style cathedral with stunning stained glass windows measuring 1764sqm of surface and one of the best preserved collections in Europe; Convento de San Marcos, once a convent, today it is a luxurious Renaissance style hotel; Casa Botines, a local savings bank, designed by the famous Antoni Gaud who was the designer of the spectacular Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
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