The city of Benavente is located in the north of the province of Zamora, settled mostly on a hill from which dominates an extensive plain formed by the rivers Esla and Órbigo. The municipality has an area of 45 km² and an altitude of 744m above sea level. Since ancient times Benavente has been a strategic place as a crossroads of important communication routes. Among them the Vía de la Plata, which was first a Roman road and later a Mozarabic road and pilgrimage route to reach the burial place of the Apostle Santiago. This situation has turned the city of Benavente into the administrative and commercial center of an extensive region, as well as the main communications hub of the northwest of the peninsula.