Travel Guide Benavente

Located on a hill in the middle of a large plain, this city of nearly 19,000 inhabitants owes its development to the policy of repopulating the territory, undertaken by the Leonese monarchies at the end of the 12th century. And it was Ferdinand II, its great benefactor, who granted it its privileges (fueros) in 1167. Two of the most emblematic monuments from this period can still be admired, the churches of Santa María de Azogue and San Juan del Mercado, as well as what remains of the ancient castle of La Mota, whose construction is thought to have begun at the same time. The Hospital de la Piedad, for its part, illustrates the importance that the lineage of the Counts and Dukes of Pimentel had in this city from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Today, this town is the urban centre of reference for a large region, as it is at the confluence of two large geographical areas: the valleys crossed by the rivers Esla, Tera and Órbigo, and the tierras de campos, known for their popular architecture. The Way of St. James bypasses the city, but those who wish to stay in the centre will have to end their day's walk with a serious climb