Crémenes

Crémenes is a municipality in the province of León, Castilla y León, with a population of 497 people (INE 2025). The Esla river runs through its territory, which borders Valbuena del Roblo to the north, Las Salas to the northeast, Argovejo to the east, Villayandre to the south, Pico Relance to the west, and Corniero to the northwest. Most of the municipal area falls within the Regional Park of Riaño and Mampodre.

This territory has yielded the largest number of Vadinian funerary stones found anywhere, eleven in total. Some historians believe the important Celtic city of Vadinia, frequently referenced in accounts of the Cantabrian-Roman wars, may have stood here. A nearby hilltop called La Corona points to a possible Roman-era settlement.

Heading toward Villayandre, you can still make out stretches of a Roman road that follows the Esla river through the valley. The old parish church was built in the 16th century and contains images of the Virgin and Saint Michael. The Saint Michael figure originally came from the now-vanished village of San Miguel de las Fuentes, about two kilometres away toward Las Salas.

In May 2015, the roof and part of the walls of the old church, by then used as a stable and chicken coop, collapsed. Both sculptures were moved to the new church, completed in 1949 and funded by local benefactor Don Juan Guereño. Built from cut stone and rubble masonry, it features fresco paintings inside the dome by the artist Santiago Eguiagaray.