Las Médulas

About

In the 1st century, the Roman empire discovered gold in the green hills of north-west Spain. Using a series of seven aqueducts, they diverted water from nearby rivers to the gold-laden hills to bore underground. According to Pliny the Elder, labourers would spend months in the mines, and many would die inside the tunnels. The results? Pliny estimates 20,000 Roman pounds of gold were extracted per year on the backs of about 60,000 labourers. After two centuries of working the deposits, the Romans abandoned the site, leaving behind a devastated marred by their remarkable ancient technology.