LThe Vía de la Plata Route is a cultural and tourist itinerary based on one of the main communication routes of the Roman Empire during its dominion of the Iberian Peninsula. It starts in the south, in the city of Seville (Andalusia), and reaches Gijón, in Asturias, via an almost straight ridge that cuts across Spain from the west.
It is about a journey of almost a thousand kilometres, on a south-north axis, passing through 4 regions, and that still conserves, in some sections, the original layout and paving of the different Roman roads that make it up*.
The ‘Silver Route’ began to be built in the 1st century, taking advantage of the presence of a natural corridor on the western flank of the Iberian Peninsula. Rome used it during the wars of conquest.
Most of the layout is due to Emperor Augustus. Their successors, the emperors Tiberius, Trajan, and Hadrian, completed the work and equipped the itinerary with the necessary infrastructure. Many of those elements are still preserved. The milestones stand out, cylindrical stone markers that indicated the way, which today have been converted into important vestiges that line it.
As well as connecting some of the country's main cities, this Roman road served as Roman cultural diffusion element and left us an exceptional archaeological legacy. Numerous Roman wonders await us on the journey along the Vía de la Plata Route: temples, defensive walls, villas, aqueducts, encampments, baths, funerary stelae, bridges,… In a setting with overflowing nature and a rich, spectacular gastronomy.
The name of the Route is not of Roman, but of medieval origin. It is due to the Arabic term Balath or BaLaTa, meaning pavement or paved road. This is a reference to the characteristics of the road and not to the circulation of minerals.
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