- The capital of El Bierzo has a wide cultural offer with the historical, industrial and natural heritage as fundamental axes.
Our cultural space is located in an unparalleled enclave, whose natural, historical and industrial heritage are its greatest attractions. Your visit to La Térmica Cultural will be the best time to get to know some of the most outstanding places in El Bierzo and the landmarks that have marked the history and identity of this territory and its inhabitants.
To begin with, we suggest a tour of the regional capital, Ponferrada. This ancient town with origins in the Camino de Santiago based its economy on the agricultural sector until the early twentieth century, when the exploitation of coal mines in the area led to the installation of two thermal power plants in the city. Ponferrada is the sixth municipality in population of Castilla y León with around 63,000 inhabitants at present. These are the 5 essential sites that we invite you to discover during your stay!
1. The Templar Castle
On the top of a privileged slope of the Sil, the 8,000 square meter Templar Castle has guarded the city since the 11th century. The knights of the Order of the Temple, the Count of Lemos or the Catholic Monarchs, among others, have been the lieutenants of this fortress over the centuries.
Today you can visit its towers, the New Palace or the recently restored Old Castle. It also has a permanent exhibition of medieval manuscripts Templum Libri. The castle is also the epicenter of the events of the Templar Night. Parades, theatrical performances and other activities take place inside the fortress. A festival that extends throughout the city and this year is celebrated during the weekend of June 30 to July 2.
📍 C/Gil y Carrasco 1
🕙 Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm and from 4.30 pm to 8.30 pm
6€ for general public, reduced price of 4€.
2. Municipal museums
The Museo del Bierzo is located in the old jail of the town and houses an impressive collection that includes Paleolithic tools, vestiges of the Romanesque occupation, samples of gold and silver work and numismatics and much more to know in detail the history of the region.
📍 C/El Reloj 5
Nearby is the Radio Museum, which houses up to 200 receivers donated by the famous local broadcaster Luis del Olmo. A journey through the technical and aesthetic evolution of the means of communication that had a major importance in Ponferrada in the twentieth century.
📍 C/Gil y Carrasco 7
The old train station houses the Museo del Ferrocarril-Estación Arte, a space where you will find some of the steam locomotives that transported coal between Villablino and Ponferrada, a line that was an axis of economic and industrial progress in the area. It also houses several temporary exhibitions.
Avda. de los Escritores 7
Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm and from 4.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Sundays from 10am to 2pm
3€ for general public
3. The Light Factory. Museum of Energy
The Fábrica de Luz is a leisure, informative and cultural space located in the former thermal power plant of the Minero Siderúrgica de Ponferrada (MSP), active from 1920 to 1971. At the foot of the Camino del Santiago, you can reach the Energy Museum by walking from the Castle along the banks of the river Sil. The visitor will discover the process of electricity production from coal and the transforming power of this industry during the last century from the testimonies of former workers. Very close to La Térmica Cultural!
Liberty Avenue 46
🕙 Tuesday to Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm and from 4.30 pm to 7 pm
3€ for the general public, reduced price of 1,5€.
4. La Herrería de Compludo
In the rural part of the municipality is the Compludo Forge, an authentic medieval forge from the 12th century in a perfect state of preservation. You can visit this important ethnographic attraction with the blacksmith himself, who will show you in a didactic way the secrets of his trade and the operation of the forge thanks to a hydraulic mechanism activated by the waters of the river Meruelo. All this in an incomparable natural environment.
🕙 From 11 am to 2 pm and from 4 to 8 pm
4€ for the general public, reduced by €1 for children
5. The Roman Canals
The Romans needed to capture water to exploit the gold mine of Las Médulas under the ruina montium method. Due to its high altitude, the empire's engineers built a network of 600 km of hydraulic canals dug in the Aquilian Mountains to capture the flow of the Oza and Cabrera rivers.
From the town of Peñalba de Santiago start the Roman Canals of the northern slope CN1 and CN2, today recovered as a hiking route, which crosses other villages of the known as Tebaida berciana as Montes de Valdueza or San Adrián. A route with a great history in an enviable scenic setting.
