The Peña de Francia is a mountain that rises to , south of the

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

Autonomous Region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

of Castile and León,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, whose peak belongs to the municipality of El Cabaco.

Location

It belongs to the municipality of El Cabaco, it is one of the highest mountains of the Sierra de Francia, which in turn is part of the Central System. The synclinoriumAssociations folds: :es:Plegamiento#Asociaciones de pliegues of the Peña de Francia is separated from syncline of Tamames by the granite outcrop of

La Alberca La Alberca is a municipality in the province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castilla y León, Spain. It is the capital of Sierra de Francia Comarca. In 2003, the population of La Alberca was 1105, and the area . Its altitude is ...

. Surrounding the mountain to the north are towns that have become hotbeds of rural attractions during the last decade such as

Geology

Geologically it is a very complex structure and is one of the highest mountains of the western sector, namely the Sierra de Francia. It has a deformed structure with folds of various types, either highlighted by banks of

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

s and conglomerates. These structures are located in an area near the Falla de Plasencia. The mountain is affected by dislocations to the North-East, along which there have been movements of blocks, and separating of different sectors of the folds.

Religion

Known for its

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found both ...

, Our Lady of Peñafrancia, and its great Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Peña de Francia. It has a great influx of visitors during the summer months including many Christian pilgrims, but it is virtually inaccessible in the winter due to large amounts of snow. In addition the sanctuary, has a friary, a separate guest quarters for the monastery and a telecommunication antenna.

Views

From the top, the whole plain of Campo Charro is visible to the north, the Sierra de Tamames to the east, and the swamp of Gabriel and Galán to the south.

Flora

The

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

at the bottom of the Mountain consists of ''

Quercus pyrenaica ''Quercus pyrenaica'', commonly known as Pyrenean oak, is a tree native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. Despite its common name, it is rarely found in the Pyrenees Mountains and is more abundant in northern Portugal and nort ...

'',

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

and

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s, and other species like ''

Erica arborea ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an o ...

'' and ''

Erica australis '' Erica australis'', the Spanish heath or Spanish tree heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Ericaceae, native to the western Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Western Spain) and Northwest Africa (in Morocco). It i ...

'', almost all of this

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debat ...

is due to fires. In the upper layer is a remarkable presence of scrub such as '' Cytisus oromediterraneus '' '' Echinospartum '' and '' Pterospartum tridentatum ''.

References

;Sources * '' 'Muñoz Jiménez, J.' '' and '' Herráiz Sanz, C. '' ':' 'The Mountains. Physics of Spain 'Guide. Alianza Editorial. Madrid, 1995.

External links

Web Cabaco, after which the Shrine belongs

Web of Nava de Francia

Web Interpretation Centre of Mining Romana del Oro. "The Cavenes El Cabaco

Paso Wolves - Rock of France

Hiking - Walking Peña de Francia, from The Casarito (Nava de Francia, Salamanca)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pena de Francia Mountains of Castile and León One-thousanders of Spain