Montemayor del Río

Due to the fact of being situated in a strategic position, near the main communication routes – the Calzada and La Plata Cattle route – this village was traditionally the watch over place between the kingdoms of Leon and Castile and Extremadura. Nowadays it is another village in the province of Salamanca which has been declared Historical Site.

You can cross the river Cuerpo de Hombre through the old bridge, which is near San Antonio hermitage, and get to the streets that lead to the village. The visitor can recover his strength in the fountain which was an old “rollo jurisdiccional” (stone column which served as an emblem of the jurisdiction of a place and which was normally used as a pillory) and is the most important element of the beautiful square surrounded by traditional houses.

From there, you can walk towards the church and the castle, one of the most beautiful in Salamanca. After many years of restoration it has recovered its old splendour, and nowadays it houses the Middle Ages Interpretation Centre. From the top of the castle, you can witness its complex defensive system and the beauty of the area.

A wood of chestnut tress cover the nearby mountain slopes and plains. In autumn it is amazing to see the trees and the different colours of their leaves. The strips of wood from the chestnut trees are the raw material of the local handicraft baskets; this tradition is explained in the Chestnut Tree Interpretation Centre. This building shows how the raw material is fixed, the manufacture techniques and the different kinds of baskets that are made with the strips of chestnut wood.