Things to see and do La Bañeza

The tour of this museum, opened in 2011, has the double advantage of visiting a modernist house, since it is housed in a small palace (Palacete) of 1930, Casa de Doña Josefina, and has a remarkable collection of traditional costumes and jewellery. In total, this museum holds a fund of more than 2 000 pieces of textiles and jewellery from the lands of León, from the th to the early th century. Each year, an exhibition showcases some special parts in a very contextualized way: work suits, feasts or dolls. The visit begins with a video explaining the history of the place, its costumes and the rites they accompanied. One will appreciate, in particular, the number (42) and the quality of the patenas (th century silver medals, marked with religious motives), the cristos'preñaos ' (literally Christ Enceints who protected women's pregnancy), jardines (typically Bosniak contenant containing "still alive flowers" and offered as proof of love, for example, at the time of marriage), destinées intended for a marriage. to fight the post-natal mortality, very frequent in these times, or the remarkable collaradas, the Bosniak «identity» collars of coral and agate to which medals are attached and who are not without thinking about jewellery Berbers. Be aware that the museum's wealth has earned it the coming of Madrid experts in traditional jewellery. 

In this tourist office you can learn French. Set in a former flour factory which operated from 1926 to 1996, it is also the Interpretation Centre des Terre de la Bañeza (CITBA) since in this place, all the machines and tools necessary for the manufacture of the flour were preserved. On three floors, two main explanatory paths: one to understand all the manufacturing mechanisms and the other to understand the history of La Bañeza and its region through numerous panels, audio-visual documents, models, all being very didactic and informative. The site also hosts temporary exhibitions. 

The church and, above all, its place are intimately linked to the history of the city, since it was built in the middle of the th century, the monastery San Salvador, which was the origin of the current location of La Bañeza. It is on the remains of the monastery destroyed by the troops of Almanzor that the present church was built, deeply modified in the th and th centuries but of Romanesque style originally (th century). Part of the apse retains this first style. Inside, we will note the main altarpiece, the baroque work of the sculptor Francisco de Rivera, with the image of the Good Shepherd or the Savior, el Salvador, carried out by Lucas Gutiérrez in 1659, as well as various frescoes of the th century.

Its silhouette dominates the Plaza Mayor. In the 1532 th century church (), the church of the th century was changed between the late Gothic and the Renaissance. Inside, we admire its magnificent baroque altarpiece, the work of the sculptor Francisco de Rivera, originally from the city, on which we can see the first representation, in the form of sculpture, of Saint John of the Cross. The chapel of the Piedad houses the most important artistic work of the city, a sculpture depicting Piety and carried out in 1628 by Gregorio Fernández.

We will, of course, stop in this place which pays tribute to one of the flagship products of the production and Gastronomy of La Bañeza, beans, of course white but also of all other colours and which benefits from a PGI (protected geographical indication) Alubia de la León-León. Located in the building where its regulatory council sits, it presents a collection of instruments, models and photographs to better understand the culture of this product, as well as samples of all varieties from Spain.