Leon

Leon (the Legio septima gemina of the Romans), capital of the former kingdom and of the modern province of the same name, but now a sleepy agricultural town, is situated in a plain, 256 miles by rail NW. of Madrid. The beautiful cathedral (c. 1195-1512), a specimen of the purest Early Pointed, is French in character and probably in origin, but was so much 'restored' during 1855-86 that it is hard to say what is old and what modern; it contains the tombs of many sovereigns of Leon, saints, and martyrs. Leon is the centre of the Spanish linen-manufacture, and has a celebrated horse-fair; it was formerly the chief seat of the Spanish wool-trade. Pop. 13,446.