León (UK: /leɪˈɒn/, US: /-ˈoʊn/; Spanish: [leˈon]; Leonese: Llión [ʎiˈoŋ]) is the capital of

the province of León, located in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 127,817 (2015)
makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter[2] of the
province's population. Including the metropolitan area, the population is estimated at 202,793
(2015).
Founded as the military encampment of the Legio VI Victrix around 29 BC, its standing as an
encampment city was consolidated with the definitive settlement of the Legio VII Gemina from
74 AD. Following its partial depopulation due to the Umayyad conquest of the peninsula, León
was revived by its incorporation into the Kingdom of Asturias. 910 saw the beginning of one its
most prominent historical periods, when it became the capital of the Kingdom of León, which
took active part in the Reconquista against the Moors, and came to be one of the fundamental
kingdoms of medieval Spain.
In 1188, the city hosted the first Parliament in European history under the reign of Alfonso IX,
due to which it was named in 2010, by the professor John Keane, the King of Spain and the
Junta of Castile and León, as the cradle of Parliamentarism, and the Decreta of León were
included in the Memory of the World register by UNESCO in 2013.[3] The city's prominence
began to decline in the early Middle Ages, partly due to the loss of independence after the
union of the Leonese kingdom with the Crown of Castile, consolidated in 1301.
After a period of stagnation during the early modern age, it was one of the first cities to hold an
uprising in the Spanish War of Independence, and some years later, in 1833 acquired the
status of provincial capital. The end of the 19th and the 20th century saw a significant
acceleration in the rate of urban expansion, when the city became an important
communications hub of the northwest due to the rise of the coal mining industry and the arrival
of the railroad.
León's historical and architectural heritage, as well as the numerous festivals hosted
throughout the year (particularly noteworthy are the Easter processions) and its location on
the French Way of the Camino de Santiago, which is ranked as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, make it a destination of both domestic and international tourism. Some of the city's most
prominent historical buildings are the Cathedral, the finest example of French-style classic
Gothic architecture in Spain, the Basilica of San Isidoro, one of the most important
Romanesque churches in Spain and resting place of León's medieval monarchs,
the Monastery of San Marcos, a prime example of plateresque and Renaissance Spanish
architecture, and the Casa Botines, a Modernist creation of the architect Antoni Gaudí. A
noteworthy example of modern architecture is the city's Museum of Contemporary Art
or MUSAC.