Turismo Salvaterra de Miño

Know - Cuevas de Doña Urraca

Cuevas del Castillo de la Reina Doña Urraca

The Leonese Queen Doña Urraca lived in the medieval castle of Salvaterra de Miño. A castle with a large "L" shaped space consisting of two floors and an upper terrace. The Caves belonged to the old Palace of the Counts, and its authorship is surely due to the French engineer Carlos de Lessar, as was the fortification of the town. This two-walk building features the exterior walls and columns built in granite stone and used brick for the vaults. It is one of the buildings that underwent less constructive alterations over the years, consequently having great power of attraction. The lower floors, where the caves are located, are visually even, using granite stone, where a series of groin vaults is erected, with their semicircular arches and their ceilings made from brick strips. A set closed by ashlar masonry walls, with recessed pockets. It is a totally circular and closed space with a semicircular vault, which is known as “Doña Urraca's dressing room”. Inside you can still see a curious double spiral staircase with a double ramp, a unique example in the country, which connects two large vaulted rooms. This avoids crossing between people who go up and people who go down at the same time. On the lower floor there is a well, which according to popular tradition, there is a secret passageway to the town of Monçao, witness of love, passion and betrayal between lovers of the two banks of the river.

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