Ledesma

Ledesma stands on a granite height above the Tormes, its walls enclosing churches, palaces and streets with a long history. The site was inhabited before the Romans, who knew a settlement here as Bletisa. In the Middle Ages the town became the centre of a district controlling neighbouring villages and roads through the river valley. Henry IV granted Ledesma to Beltrán de la Cueva in 1462; his family retained lordship for centuries, and the castle and noble houses display its influence.