Pendilla – La Carisa, mining history and Pico Tres Concejos

Pendilla brings together the routes of La Carisa, traces of copper mining and the Roman era. For your stay, the focus is on walking or mountain biking tours, and the history of the old road and the village. If you are looking for a hotel in Pendilla, you can plan your trip around whether you want to focus on the route and summit or on archaeological and architectural remains.

La Carisa: mountain pass route and Roman traces

The route from Pendilla begins beside a sign for the Calzada Romana La Carisa. From there, a track follows the original Calzada de La Carisa over the Collada de Propinde and on to Asturias. The Vía de La Carisa is signposted and officially approved as the GR 100 Vía de la Plata / Vía Carisa; it can be walked or ridden by mountain bike. This makes the route over the pass and the ways of travelling along it clear points of reference.

A section of the Roman road more than fifteen kilometres long survives between Tonín and the area around the Curriellos camp. There is also a Roman fort along the route, which is currently being excavated. The surviving road section and the fort offer different historical points of reference: an extended stretch of road and a Roman structure.

Routes to Pico Tres Concejos

Pico Tres Concejos is 2,020 metres high. The Pendilla–La Carisa–Tres Concejos route provides access to the summit via livestock tracks near Propinde. One ascent starts in Pendilla de Arbás and follows the old Carisa road through the Bustamores valley to the Propinde pass. Several waterfalls can be seen on the easier return option of the Pendilla route, in the Bustamor valley.

The route descriptions have different focuses: the track over Propinde continues to Asturias, the approach to Pico follows livestock tracks, and the waterfalls are part of the easier return option. This lets you distinguish the described routes by direction, connection to the summit and features of the return journey, rather than treating them as a single tour option.

Mining history and buildings in the village

Mina Colón, on the slopes of Pendilla, has been used to extract copper since the Bronze Age. Its mining history therefore dates back to a time before the Roman traces of La Carisa. The route and the fort point to Roman history; Mina Colón adds an earlier history of copper extraction.

The village also has specific historical points of reference: the village church stands in the upper part of the settlement, and a piece of heraldic stonework dating from 1704 adorns a façade in Pendilla. The church and the façade detail place the village’s history within the settlement, while Mina and La Carisa add the mining and Roman connections. Together, the Bronze Age use of the mine, the Roman traces along the road and the dated stonework represent different historical layers of Pendilla.

Discover more destinations: Filiel, Lugueros, Carracedelo, Vega De Valcarce, Aralla de Luna, Magaz de Cepeda, El Valle, El Burgo Ranero.

For the main travel overview: León.