The small mountain village of Las Médulas is located about 25 kilometres south-west of Ponferrada in the north of Spain.

An extraordinary site enthroned on gold, at least this was the case in Roman times. They had several square kilometres of terrain ransacked in search of gold as well as planting sweet chestnut trees.

Where now there is a peaceful and dreamy picture-book landscape, back then it was the proverbial "hell on earth" for many people. Armies of slaves were forced to prepare the gold for the Roman Empire in open-cast mining with the simplest of means and the hardest of labour. The mining technique used was called "Ruina Montium". Vast amounts of water were needed to flood the tunnels and holes and to transport the alluvial material out.

According to today's calculations, the Romans were moving around 93 million cubic metres of earth in the process and in the process 4,700 kilos of gold were washed out. Nowadays, this approach would be denounced as gigantic environmental destruction.

But 2,000 years on, this place has become a cultural park, like a fascinating work of art. And in 1997, the ancient gold mining area Las Médulas was finally declared a World Heritage Site.