Castilla y León is a large region in Northern Spain whose climate is hot and arid in the summer and very cold in the winter. It is set on an enormous, peculiar platform known as the meseta, and includes the territory of the ancient kingdom of León and the northern half of the old kingdom of Castilla. It has a grandiose, infinitely flat countryside (who said there are no plains in Spain?) and a truly splendorous historical and architectural heritage. It is composed of the Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora provinces.