Provincia de León .

PROVINCE OF LEON
It is a Spanish province in the northwest of the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon and its capital is the city of Leon. It limits the north with the Principality of Asturias and Cantabria, the east with the province of Palencia, the south with the provinces of Zamora and Valladolid and west Galicia, specifically the provinces of Orense and Lugo. It covers an area of ​​15,581 square kilometers and has 494,451 inhabitants.
As such, it was constituted in the administrative division of 1833, after the reforms carried out by Javier de Burgos, part, although without administrative operation, in the region of Leon. It is divided into 211 municipalities, grouped into seven judicial districts: Sahagún, Leon, La Bañeza, Ponferrada, Astorga, Cistierna and Villablino.
Crossing point between important regions of the Iberian peninsula, the Leon province run two routes: from south to north the Via de la Plata, and from east to west the Camino de Santiago.
Leon Born as a Roman military camp of the Legio VI Victrix to 29 a. C., its character campamental city was consolidated with the final settlement of the Legio VII Gemina from the year 74. After partial depopulation on the occasion of the Muslim conquest of the peninsula, Leon received a new impetus as part of the Kingdom of Asturias . In 910 he began one of its most important historical stages to become head of the Kingdom of León, actively participating in the Reconquista against the Muslims, becoming one of the fundamental realms in the configuration of Spain. The city hosted the first Cortes of the history of Europe in 1188, under the reign of Alfonso IX, thanks to which in 2011 was proclaimed by the Junta de Castilla y Leon as cradle of parliamentarism. From the late Middle Ages the city ceased to have the importance of yesteryear, partly due to the loss of its independence after the union of the Castilian leonine kingdom, definitive Crown since 1301.
He plunged into a period of stagnation during the Modern Age, in the War of Independence was one of the first cities in revolt in Spain, and years after the end of it, in 1833, would acquire its range of provincial capital. The arrival of the twentieth century brought the extension plan, which increased urban sprawl that had been experiencing since the late nineteenth century, when the city became an important communications hub northwest to mark the rise of coal mining and the arrival of the railroad.
Its heritage and monuments, as well as various celebrations that take place throughout the year, among which the Holy Week, and its situation forced the Camino de Santiago, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, make one city receiving national and international tourism. Among its most representative monuments are the Cathedral, the best example of classic Gothic French style in Spain, the Basilica of San Isidoro, one of the most important Romanesque churches in Spain, Tomb of the Kings of Leon Medieval and considered as La Capilla Sistine Chapel of Romanesque art, the Monastery of San Marcos, first example of Spanish Plateresque and Renaissance architecture, the palace of Guzman, the palace of the Condes de Luna, the Market church or Camino la Antigua, church Palat of king, the House of Carnicerias and House Treads, modernist and by the great Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí style; all of them declared of cultural interest. Outstanding example of modern architecture, and one of the museums of the city, is the MUSAC by Mansilla + Tuñón. Leon has a developed network of roads and railways, in addition to an airport with domestic and international flights (currently only in Paris) that after the expansion works, opened in October 2010, has a new terminal and capable cater to triple passenger before.
In 2013 they are carrying out various projects in the city such as the AVE high-speed line, the conversion of Feve tram and the congress hall, among others. The tram project raised several criticisms by the Popular Party, then in the municipal opposition, claiming that development in a city like Leon was a Pharaonic and doubtful viability project and announced that under his government would not develop such a project.
The University of León, founded in 1979 as a spin-off of the University of Oviedo, had in the 2006-07 academic year with 13,217 students; It is headquartered in the city and is classified, based on criteria such as university demand, human resources or curricula, as the 2nd University of Castilla y Leon, after the University of Salamanca, and the 30th from Spain. Since May 4, 2010, the city hosts the second home of the University of Washington in Europe after its Rome headquarters, with capacity for 500 students interested in learning Spanish. The city also has an office of the Confucius Institute since 2011.