“The glorious Josef, Isacio and Jacobo, shepherds of Bethlehem, who deserved to see, and adore the first Christ God and newborn man in the portal “. This is how the inscription of the chest full of bone remains that rests in the modest church of San Pedro and San Fernando in Ledesma (Salamanca).
Legend has it that a gentleman from this city, named Michael Dominiquiz, He went on a crusade to Jerusalem. There he found an abandoned chest with shears, shepherd’s bags and a text with three names: Isacio, Josef and Jacobo. The bones could not be other than those of the shepherds who, according to the Gospel of Saint Luke, slept in the open near Bethlehem the night the baby was born. Child Jesus. So he brought them to his town.
Going to see one of the most extravagant relics in Spain can be a reason like any other to visit this town of Salamanca, which splits in two at the passage of the tormes river, but the church in which they rest does not even appear on the tourist portal of the municipality. And it is that in Ledesma there are many other things to pay attention to.
Lying half an hour from Salamanca capital, and given its strategic location, Ledesma has been an important settlement in the area since prehistoric times. In Roman times it must have been an occupation of some importance, but it was with Ferdinand II of Leon when the town lived its greatest period of splendor, becoming an outstanding political center of the Kingdom of León.
The wall that surrounded the entire municipality is from medieval times and of which a large part is still preserved today. Also your castle-fortressthree of its churches, of Romanesque origin, and the beautiful bridge that crosses the River Tormes and, despite its Roman origin, was rebuilt in the 15th century.
Church of Santa Elena, in Ledesma.
A town where you can eat (very) well
Ledesma also has an establishment of incalculable value if what interests us is the gastronomyand it is that in this town is one of the last houses of meals worthy of such a name.
La Fernandica is literally a town house where meals are served. Its two rooms are the rooms of the house, with its fireplace, its working braziers and a decoration that has not changed one iota in decades.
La Fernandica is a village house, with its chimney, from which the braziers are fed in winter.
In it daily menu, which is sung loudly, some well-known dishes in the area survive, such as patatas meneas, with other recipes that are difficult to find in any other restaurant. Really homemade food, delicious, and at popular prices: it is difficult to go out for more than 20 euros, eating and drinking everything you want.
Very close to Ledesma, although already in the contiguous town of San Pelayo de Guareña, is Zorita Farmthe historic monastery in which Christopher Columbus He spent a long time convincing Fray Diego de Deza, personal confessor of Queen Isabel La Católica, of the feasibility of the new route to the Indies.
Today the monastery, property of the falco family, has been converted into a hotel, SPA and restaurant. You can also visit its cellar, where the well-known wines of the same name are made.
Images | Tourism of Ledesma/Hacienda Zorita In DAP | Where to eat in Salamanca In DAP | Where to buy the best hornazos in Salamanca
