Aula· Spain, city by cityCastilla y León
Astorga
«Astorga tiene un palacio episcopal diseñado por Gaudí.»Astorga has an episcopal palace designed by Gaudí.
Astorga is in the west of the province of León, at the point where the French Way meets the Vía de la Plata. It was the Roman capital of the gold mining district and one of the oldest episcopal sees in Spain, and it preserves an episcopal palace designed by Gaudí that was left unfinished.
Did you know
A Gaudí palace outside Catalonia.
The city's episcopal palace was designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí at the end of the nineteenth century.
How they talk in Astorga
«Maragato» indicates the historical culture of the region around Astorga. The formula «cocido maragato» carries with it the ritual of the reverse order of courses, not just a recipe.
Everyday life in Astorga
«Mantecados» and chocolate
Astorga was the capital of Spanish chocolate and still has factories and a museum: you buy the bar by weight, and mantecados are taken away in tin boxes.
«Una tableta de chocolate de Astorga.» — A bar of Astorga chocolate.
«Cocido maragato» in reverse
You eat the meat first, then the chickpeas and cabbage, and the soup at the end: it has been served this way for centuries, and in the restaurants in the area they don't change it.
«Primero la carne, la sopa al final.» — First the meat, the soup at the end.
Gaudí's palace next to the cathedral
The Palacio Episcopal is by Gaudí and is a few metres from the Gothic cathedral: two buildings very far from each other look at each other, and it is the image that the people of Astorga give of the city.
What to eat in Astorga
Cocido maragato
Boiled dinner served in reverse: first the meats, then the chickpeas and vegetables, and the soup at the end.
Mantecadas de Astorga
Butter cakes baked inside a square paper tray, soft and golden.
Chocolate de Astorga
Chocolate processed in the city for four centuries, dense, to drink or eat in bars.
Cecina de León
Salted, smoked and dried beef, aged for months, sliced as thin as ham.
Festivals in Astorga
Astures y Romanos
the last weekend of July
Two camps are set up outside the Roman walls, and for four days the city returns to the first century.
What to see in Astorga
Palacio Episcopal de Gaudí
The episcopal palace of white granite that Gaudí started and did not finish.
Catedral de Santa María
Cathedral with a Baroque façade in pink stone and two towers of different colours.
Museo del Chocolate
The machines and history of the «chocolateros» of Astorga, who had been working cocoa since the seventeenth century.
Ergástula romana
A covered Roman gallery under the square, the purpose of which is not known for certain.
Where Astorga comes from
A Gaudí left half-finished
14 BC
Asturica Augusta
Roman camp that becomes the capital of the gold mining district.
3rd century
The episcopal see
Among the oldest in Spain: Saint Cyprian already speaks of it in his letters.
11th century → today
The path
Meeting point between the French Way and the Vía de la Plata.
1889–1913
Gaudí
The episcopal palace is built to his design, but he leaves the work half-finished and never returns.
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