Western asturias (II)
COAÑA - BOAL - PESOZ - OSCOS - TARAMUNDI
- VEGADEO
This route is also long but extremely interesting and will take
us to both the Asturian coast and its mountais.
To set off on this route we must get to Navia. We can do so either by leaving Oviedo along the N-634 main road towards La Espina and from there head for Luarca or we must continue along that same same road until the N-632. In Luarca we must continue along that same road until we get to Navia and shortly after we take the AS-12 towards Boal.
After leaving Navia we come to the Castro de Coaña. It is situated on a hill skirted by the Xarriou stream. This settlement must have come into use in the Iron Age and continued heing lived in during Roman times. It is thought that is main objective was to defend the Navia estuary.
As we continue along this route we can see other fortified settlements: La Escrita and Pedía in Boal, Entrerríos and Llomba de Gío in Illano and Las Furadas in Pesoz.
The route follows the path of the Arbón reservoir and takes us to Bola and Gío, where there is another reservoir, the Doiras. We go on to Illano and then to Pesoz. Shortly after this we come to the turn off which will take us right into the magnificent area of Los Oscos. If you wish, you can also go on to Grandas de Salime, where you should not miss a visit to its wonderful ethnographical Museum and the continue on through El Acebo Pass and arrive in Santalla (or Santa Eulalia) de Oscos.
But following our own route, from Pesoz we come to San Martín de Oscos, where we can visit the 18th century Palace of Mon (the south-east tower dates back to the 16th century) and the Palace of the Guzmán de Vegadeo family, built between 1756 and 1770; in bouth we can see the characteristic slate coverings.
From San Martín we head for Villanueva de Oscos. We will be amazed to find here the beatiful monastery built by the Cistercians. It has a Romanesque church, wich was later remodelled, and monastic buildings all built hetween the 17th and 18th centuries.
The next stage is Santalla, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, where we can see the House of Aquel Cabo, built in the 18th century.
From Santalla we go on to Taramundi, a place chosen to set up the first Rural Tourism Centre in Asturias, called La Rectoral (The Vicarage). In Taramundi you should not fail to visit some of the workshops where craftsmen carry on the legacy of the iron industry (traditional in the area) by manufacturing their famous pocket-knives with decorated boxwood handles. The mazo de Aguillón (a sledge hammer) is famous and you should not miss a visit to Teixois, a hamlet which has, apart from its houses and outbuildings, an important display of hydraulic devices: a mallet, a mill, a tool grinder and a small, recently-restored electric generator. Another traditional craft in the area is weaving.
From here we take the road through La Garganta
Pass to Vegadeo. Here on Whit Sunday there is an Industrial and
Agricultural Machinery Fair as well as an Asturian and Galician
Painting Competition and Exhibition.
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