The León cathedral is almost completely Gothic, having been completed in only 50 years during the 13th century. There is more stained glass here than in any other cathedral in Europe, except Chartres.

The interior is arranged in 4 layers: at the bottom is the “mineral” world, represented by the stone foundation; next is the natural world, with stained glass depicting plants and animals; the 3rd layer is the human world; and the tall windows at the top, so high that you have to stand back to see them, represent the biblical world.

Across the street from the cathedral is a small museum in the former home of 19th century businessman Francisco Blanco y Sierra Pambley, who founded a free elementary school in the 1930s. There were some antique typewriters there—the school taught girls to type at a time when girls did not normally go to school.

I must have read about this in my year of research for this trip, but I had forgotten that there was also a Gaudí building in León.

I’ve made a point of seeing the various Gaudí buildings in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia, Parc Guëll, etc. and feel like I have a pretty good appreciation for his style.

But on initial inspection, the Casa Botines doesn’t look like a Gaudí structure. Made out of brick with spires turrets at the corners, it at first appears to be modeled after a more conventional Castilian castle.

There is a statue of St. George slaying the dragon over the door, possibly in a nod to Gaudí’s Catalonian heritage.

But on closer inspection, the entire building is a dragon. The door is the mouth, the windows are the eyes, the fence supports the claws, and the roof shingles are the scales.

It took scholars 100 years to decipher Gaudí’s little joke.

Both the Iglesia de San Isidro and the Iglesia de Santa Maria del Camino were great examples of Romanesque architecture, with a collection of Romanesque art to match.

All in all a pretty good day. Ready for an early start tomorrow. I will be hiking in the rain before this trip is over, but it looks like tomorrow will not be that day.