The Sil is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in León ( Castile and León) and Galicia,

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 ...

, a tributary of the Miño. Its total length is . The source of the Sil is in the

Cantabrian Mountains , etymology=Named after the Cantabri , photo=Cordillera Cantábrica vista desde el Castro Valnera.jpg , photo_caption=Cantabrian Mountains parallel to the Cantabrian Sea seen from Castro Valnera in an east-west direction. In the background, ...

in the Leonese town of

Villablino Villablino (; Leonese: ''Vitsablinu'') is a municipality located in the Laciana comarca of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2011 Census, the municipality had a population of 10,35 ...

. It flows through the provinces of León and Ourense. The largest city on the Sil is

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only ''comarca'' recognized as a ...

(León). The Sil flows into the Miño upstream from Ourense.

Mouth

The river joins the Miño river in Os Peares, in the province of Ourense. Generally, the hierarchy between rivers is performed by taking into account which junction has more volume and length. In this case, as with the Esla and Pisuerga with the Duero, the Sil has flows larger than the Miño at the junction. There is a saying that goes, "The Miño has the fame, but the Sil gives it water" (in Spanish, ''El Miño lleva la fama y el Sil le da el agua''). The Sil river also surpasses the Miño in length by about .

Course

The Sil runs through the León districts of Babia,

Laciana Laciana, ''Tsaciana'' in Leonese language, is a comarca in the province of León, Spain. It had 11,904 inhabitants in 2005. The rivers of this comarca flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. Local people speak a certain variant of the Leonese language ...

El Bierzo El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includes m ...

and La Cabrera, and Ourense

Valdeorras Valdeorras is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense. The overall population of this local region is 25,500 (2019). Municipalities * O Barco de Valdeorras, capital of the comarca *O Bolo *Carballeda de Valdeorras *Larouco * Petín * A ...

, among other locations across

O Barco de Valdeorras O Barco de Valdeorras is a municipality in Ourense (province) in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It lies towards the very north-east of Ourense province. Located in the Sil valley, lying in the Serra do Eixo, is the capital of the Valdeor ...

A Rúa A Rúa is a mostly rural Galician municipality in the comarca of Valdeorras, eastern province of Ourense, Spain, 101 km (63 mi) from the provincial capital, Ourense. An inhabitant of the area is known as a ''Rués'' (plural ''Rueses' ...

, Quiroga and

Ribas de Sil Ribas de Sil is a town located in Galicia, in the Spanish province of Lugo. The monastery of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, currently used as a Parador A ''parador'' (), in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries was an establishment where ...

Tributaries

* Left bank: Valseco, Boeza, Oza, Cabrera, Bibei, Navea and Mao. * Right bank: Caboalles, Valdeprado, Barredos, Cúa, Burbia, Selmo, Soldón, Lor and Cabe.

Gold deposits

The river has been a rich source of

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...

gold, and was most extensively exploited during the Roman period, following the conquest of north-west Spain by

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

in 25 BC. The upper reaches of the river possessed large placer deposits, and the region around

Las Médulas Las Médulas () is a historic gold-mining site near the town of Ponferrada in the comarca of El Bierzo (province of León, Castile and León, Spain). It was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire ...

yielded large amounts of gold. It was extracted using hydraulic mining, involving the building of numerous

aqueducts Aqueduct may refer to: Structures *Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley *Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...

to expose and wash the alluvial formations.

Etymology

According to Pokorny and to E. Bascuas, "Sil" would belong to the old European hydronymy, derived from the Indoeuropean root ''*sei-'' 'drip, run, humid'.Cf. p. 537 of "La Hidronimia de Galicia: tres estratos ..". http://www.mondonedoferrol.org/estudios-mindonienses/MINDONIENSES%2024%20 rotegidopdf

References