THE 8 ESSENTIALS

Ledesma History Interpretation Centre, BLETISA

Located in the church of San Miguel, this is a space devoted to history and heritage, where the visitor can delve into the town’s enigmas, get to know its every nook and cranny, understand the past and sample its present.

Using different media such as audiovisuals, interactive displays, texts, photographs, etc. The centre covers the history of Ledesma from the most distant past to present times. The information displayed includes the cultural, natural and ethnographic heritage of the north-east of the Salamanca province.

The visit to the centre can be done in English and French.

This urban route, with signs both for adults and children – the little ones, with the help of a children’s booklet – will take you to the most significant places in the old town and will allow you to admire the rich heritage of this Historic Site. It helps the visitor to relate to the environment and the social, historic and cultural context. This is a circular route, self-guided and easy to follow due to its signposting, which can be started at any point. The signs – which are in English as well as Spanish and French, by means of QR codes – offer the visitors contents based on the value and interest of the selected heritage spots.

We recommend starting the route in San Miguel street, after visiting the Interpretation Centre.

Paseo de Alonso Andrea

This promenade is located in the old part, within the city walls, and combines rest areas with vibrant gardens. This is a privileged spot to admire the best panoramic views on the town: at the forefront we can see the cliff, the river, the bridges, the Virgen del Carmen chapel… and a bit further away is the typical Salamancan landscape of the dehesa forest, one of the best preserved and more sustainable ecosystems in inland Spain.

The name of Alonso Andrea comes from a Ledesma man, co-founder of Caracas in Venezuela, about whom the legend goes that he faced – alone, on a skinny old horse and with a rusty suit of armour – the English pirates that were ransacking that city, and which, according to some, may have inspired Cervantes to create his Don Quixote.

Puente Mocho route

This is a signposted route that goes across the dehesa, the local type of forest where we can find century-old holm oaks along with broom, lavender or thyme, and we may see griffon vultures, black kites, common kestrels, the odd black stork, foxes, rabbits and hares. The route follows one of the historic thoroughfares of the Ledesma area, the Bletisama Ocelo-Duri route, which used to join Coria with Zamora and which, when passing by Ledesma, crosses the Puente Mocho bridge. This bridge, of Roman origin and recently restored, was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2000, along with the remains of the Roman road that can still be seen at either end of it.

Characteristics of the route: 4.68 km, there and back. Low difficulty.

Ledesma doughnuts

Among the many baked goods that can be tasted in Ledesma, the star productare indeed the doughnuts (rosquillas).

Although their origin is uncertain, the old confectioners that used to make them are still fondly remembered: Regina and Dolores inherited their father’s recipe to make the famous doughnuts in their bakery, not far from the main square. Gabi and Herminia, also followed the family tradition by making them for many years in their shop on San Miguel street Despite both shops making a wide variety of other sweets, it was the doughnuts that made them famous throughout the years.

Both shops are still going strong, and both welcome visitors and run workshops by previous appointment.

Creative woodwork and restoration

Collectable miniatures – such as thimbles, bookmarks, etc-, illustrated stories, traditional pieces, music boxes, antiques, art and collection objects made with decorative techniques like pyrography and colouring, fretwork, traditional woodwork and inlaid work, are but some of the pieces that the visitor can see here.

In this workshop, located in the historical centre of Ledesma, all these techniques are still being used, because handcrafts can reveal to us the local traditions, customs and tools, the things that our ancestors played with, then worked with, and which now are the inspiration behind these creations. The visitors can watch the artisan working live, giving shape, step by step, to these small works of art, and they can also take part in workshops by previous appointment.

Corpus Christi festival 

This is Ledesma’s main festival and it takes place over several days, from the eve of Corpus Thursday to the Monday after, and it usually falls between May and June.

The main acts begin the previous Wednesday, with the public announcement and the proclamation of the festival queen and her ladies, followed on the next day by the procession carrying the Holy Sacrament through the streets of the old part. There are, throughout that week, a great many celebrations, but we especially recommend the romería del Prao de la Villa, a large party and fair that takes place on Saturday afternoon, and the famous “Espantos”, carried out on Sunday and Monday mornings, near the bullring.