Interior of the Villa Romana La Olmeda.

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Villa Romana La Olmeda

Top choice in Castilla y León


Villa Romana La Olmeda contains some of the most beautiful remnants of a Roman villa anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula. The villa was built around the 1st or 2nd century AD, but was completely overhauled in the middle of the 4th century. It was then that the simply extraordinary mosaics were added; the hunting scenes in El Oecus (principal salon) are especially impressive. Elevated boardwalks guide you around the 4400-sq-metre villa, with multimedia presentations in Spanish, English and French.

Located on the fertile plains south of the Montaña Palentina, the turn-off to the site is 3km south of Saldaña, along the CL615. If you want to delve further, ask at the ticket office here about details on the monographic museum in Saldaña where many of the excavated artefacts are on display.