Reliegos (León) (0)

Did you know that... Reliegos

It is located in the southeast of the province of León, in a transition zone between the banks of the river Esla and the region of Tierra de Campos. Up to three Roman roads converge in the area and in one of them, the one that communicated León with the Eastern Pyrenees, was located the city of Pallantia or Pelontium. But Reliegos began its journey in history around the middle of the 10th century. There are many documents about the disputes that existed between the Church of León and the Church of Mansilla over these lands and which lasted over time. The French Way crosses Reliegos since, according to documents, the twelfth century, which is why it is mentioned in the pilgrimage routes of the time, coming to have a small hospital for pilgrims of which part of its structure remains.

A little more history

On November 30, 1833, when it was approved the Royal Decree on the territorial division of Spain, Reliegos, among other villages, became part of the province of Leon. The War of Independence as well as the Civil War were also patents in Reliegos. Nowadays it is part of the Town Hall of Santas Martas.

To discover What to see in Reliegos?

On a hillock you can see the ruins of the apse of what was the church fortress of Reliegos dedicated to San Antonio Abad, its tower, which was an emblem of the village, fell at the end of 2000. The new temple is dedicated to Saints Cornelius and Cyprian and in it you can see part of the images and paintings of the collapsed church, such as the carving of the Virgin Mary with the Child, from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century, a period of Roman-Gothic transition. The constructions of the popular architecture of Reliegos are with the typical elements of the area, earth, adobe, which is earth with straw, or tapial that are entire walls made with pressed earth, and wood for the roof frames, which later covered with bramble trusses, are the base of the Arabic-type tiles that crown them. In addition, Reliegos offers us a quiet rest in the parks inside the village as well as the curious and typical apiaries of mud plastered wickers, and the dovecotes, which can be observed in their surroundings.

Festivities

Reliegos celebrates its patron saint festivities in honour of San Cornelio and San Cipriano on 16 September.

Traditions

Tradition has it that, according to documents, the villas in the area that formed a council had to present themselves there with their pennants. And they say that each strip of silk or crepe that composed it corresponded to a merit granted for participating in some battle or important fact in favor of the king, the nobles or the church. The Reliegos has six stripes of red silk, the reference colour of kings, and two stripes of green, as if they belonged to a county, joined together by gallons embroidered in gold thread. It is currently displayed at festivals and special religious events.

Curiosities

Reliegos will not forget the day of the Innocents in 1947, when the Royal Street was hit by a meteorite that caused a hole about 35 centimeters deep and gave the locals a tremendous scare. The impact site was never built again. It is currently on display at the National Science Museum in Madrid.

The Legend

A very famous legend says that some time ago some pilgrims went before the Guardia Civil de Mansilla to ask if they knew the whereabouts of a French pilgrim they had met along the way and when they corroborated the physical data and clothing of the girl the Guardia Civil taught them a large number of complaints about the disappearance of that person, which had occurred over many years. The legend goes on that the girl in question had promised her father, on her deathbed, that she would do the Way for him, but the girl did not finish it either because she disappeared during her Jacobean pilgrimage.