Asturies, Camín al andar

Asturies, Camín al andar

The Original Way

Stage 1: Oviedo/Uviéu-Grau/Grado

The first stage of the Camino Primitivo connects the city of Oviedo with the town of Grau/Grado, along 25.62 kilometers that run through the councils of Oviedo, Las Regueras and Grau/Grado. It is a route without great difficulties, which in its first kilometers, after leaving the Asturian capital, runs through the foothills of Mount Naranco, in a more or less flat path, which finds its main incidents later on, with a sharp descent between Llampaxúa and Lloriana and then with the ascent to Taraniello, in Las Regueras, and the subsequent descent towards Premoño, then beginning a practically flat route that leads to the capital of the council of Grau/Grado.

The Camino de Santiago runs largely on paved roads, although there is a significant percentage of it on dirt, gravel or concrete paths. It is a varied stage, in which cities such as Oviedo and Grau/Grado are crossed at the beginning and end of the route, respectively, as well as a good handful of small villages and towns, such as Llampaxúa, Lloriana, Taraniello, Premoño or Peñaflor, being also abundant sections in which the Jacobean route runs through a purely natural environment, especially in the council of Las Regueras.

The Cultural Heritage is very rich in this itinerary, which begins next to the Cathedral of Oviedo, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2015 for its connection to the Camino de Santiago, a distinction that previously, in 1999, had reached the Holy Chamber, as an integral part of the ensemble of pre-Romanesque architecture in Oviedo.

The Camino crosses part of the historic Oviedo complex, and then passes through the nineteenth-century expansion of the Asturian capital, in which good testimonies of the residential architecture of the nineteenth century, clearly bourgeois, are preserved. The Camino also passes near the old Provincial Hospice of Oviedo, a landmark work of the illustrated period. Later, once the city of Oviedo has been left behind, the Jacobean route enters a rural environment, in which there are many small chapels and churches, such as those of Llampaxúa, Lloriana or Premoño, and the traditional constructions typical of the Asturian rural environment. Among which the granaries and bread baskets stand out, very abundant for example in the town of Peñaflor, in the municipality of Grau/Grado, located already a short distance from the capital of Moscona, at the end of the stage and in which there is a historic center of notable interest , chaired by the Palace of Valdecarzana, an Asset of Cultural Interest since ¿? ‘and an outstanding example of modern Asturian noble architecture.

Obviously, there are many historical references to the passage of pilgrims on this route in medieval and modern times. In Oviedo there were several pilgrim hospitals, among which the San Juan one stood out, founded in 1096 a few meters from the cathedral. In the council of Las Regueras there is evidence of the existence of a hostel in El Escamplero, originating in the fourteenth century, and of two hospitals for pilgrims in Premoño and Peñaflor, already on the border with the council of Grau/Grado, in whose capital The Hospital de Nuestra Señora de las Candelas was located, already documented in the 16th century.

Stage monuments

Stage locations

Stage description

The stage begins in front of the Cathedral of Oviedo, in the Plaza de Alfonso II el Casto, surrounded by buildings of notable interest, such as the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, the Casa de la Rúa (the oldest civil building that is preserved in the Asturian capital), the Balesquida chapel and the great urban palaces of Valdecarzana and Camposagrado, now rehabilitated and at the service of the Asturian administration of justice. The square acquired its current configuration at the end of the 1920s, when an entire block of old buildings that was located in front of the main facade of the cathedral was demolished, which meant that in front of the main facade of the cathedral was it formed a very small arcaded square, which was accessed by Platería street, also disappeared in that reform, which started right in front of the cathedral tower, to go up slightly to Rúa street. This radical urban reform also caused the disappearance of small spaces such as the Balesquida square, located in front of the chapel of the same name, or the orchards of the Valdecarzana and Heredia palaces. Likewise, the conformation of Schultz Street was modified, where at the end of the 19th century the building of the old pilgrims’ hospital of San Juan had been demolished, direct heir to the healthcare establishment founded by order of Alfonso VI in the 11th century.

The Camino continues, with your back to the cathedral, along Calle Schultz, which is the first on the right after leaving the square, running between the Camposagrado palaces (on the left) and Valdecarzana-Heredia (on the right).

Between the current streets of Schultz, Jovellanos and Águila, the great pilgrim hospital of San Juan was located in the Middle Ages, founded thanks to the donation of King Alfonso VI of the old royal palace (known in historical sources as “palatio frantisco” ), for use by the Asturian church as a center for assistance to pilgrims. This large hospital, including a chapel and a vegetable garden where healing herbs were grown, remained standing until the beginning of the 19th century. In its vicinity there was another hospital, that of Santiago, also governed by the Oviedo bishopric.

You go down this street from Schultz and soon you come to the Plaza de Juan XXIII, with a statue in the center. You cross and continue straight ahead, down Calle La Luna, downhill. Towards the middle of this street, on the right bank, are the schools of the Moon, currently baptized with the name of the famous twentieth-century Oviedo writer Dolores Medio.

Continue, cross a perpendicular street (called Víctor Chávarri) and follow it a few meters to the left, until you join Calle Covadonga and continue along it to the right, passing in front of the main facade of the old monastery of Santa Clara , today provincial delegation of the Treasury.

Passing the old monastery, you cross another street, the Gascona. The Camino continues straight ahead, but if you take the detour to the right you will arrive, after just 200 meters, at the pre-Romanesque fountain of La Foncalada, declared a World Heritage Site in 1998, and one of the oldest civil constructions in use on the European continent. .

Continue along Calle Covadonga, between modern buildings among which some interesting rationalist construction has been preserved. It flanks the Longoria Carvajal square (which is on the right hand side of the Camino) and after a curve it joins the Melquiades Álvarez street, passing a few meters later next to the neo-Byzantine church of San Juan el Real.

The route continues, leaving the church on the right, along Calle Melquíades Álvarez which after a little more than a hundred meters reaches Calle Uría, the most characteristic of the bourgeois expansion of Oviedo, which emerged to connect the historic center with the train station ( which is on the right hand side of the Camino, just 200 meters away from its junction with Calle Uría). The intersection between Melquíades Álvarez and Uría streets takes place in a place where the monastery of the Servants of Jesús de la Caridad is located, with its attached chapel, on the left hand side of the Camino.

At the other corner of the intersection there is a mountain-style house, with a tower finish on the chamfer, with a facade to the two streets.

The road crosses Uría street and continues straight along Independencia street, soon arriving at the building of the University School of Mines of the University of Oviedo, a building from the second half of the 20th century attached to the historic Hospice of the Asturian capital, current headquarters of the Hotel de la Reconquista, of notable heritage interest and home each year for the juries that award the various prizes of the Princess of Asturias Awards. Inside there is also a bomb shelter from the time of the Spanish civil war in 1936.

After the School of Mines, you soon arrive at Santander avenue, crossing the street and continuing to the left along the sidewalks that flank the so-called Losa de Oviedo, the structure that covers the railroad tracks and that has created a space above landscaped public.

You go up this avenue in Santander and you come to a roundabout, which you skirt around, continuing to the right, along the first street you reach after leaving the Losa behind. The first building left on the left now clearly shows traces of the heavy fighting in Oviedo during the first year of the civil war, in the form of traces of impacts from numerous bullets on its façade.

Continue straight ahead until you reach a statue of the Asturian athlete Samuel Sánchez, at the beginning of another roundabout. At this point you cross, go around the roundabout and continue along the second street on the left, called ¿?, Which leads to Calle Argañosa, along which you will run for the next 650 meters, approximately, between some rationalist buildings, public housing from the Franco era and modern blocks. When you reach a roundabout, take a detour to the right, reaching a pedestrian overpass over the railway lines. Cross the pass and access the modern neighborhood of La Florida, configured at the beginning of the 21st century, and where the Camino passes.

After passing the Camino, turn left, along the street ¿?, Between blocks of buildings on the right and a small green area on the left, in which the concrete structures of two machine gun nests built during the war are preserved civil.

You leave behind and you come to a roundabout, where you continue straight on, until you reach another roundabout that connects with a large communication walkway with the center of Oviedo that runs to the left. The Jacobean route continues to the right of this roundabout, along ¿?? street, leaving a municipal sports complex on the left.

We continue along this street, and after a crossing with ¿? Street, we then come to another roundabout, presided over by some trees and on one of whose sides there is a small monument dedicated to the Jacobean pilgrimage, the work of the Asturian artist Pilar Fernández. Go around the roundabout and continue straight on, following the direction that was maintained until it, to reach a green space that flanks, turning left and passing by an educational center. In the next street, turn right and then turn left again, along calle ¿?, Which continues to the next crossroads, where you turn right, to take after passing a small regato, a dirt and stone track that rises to the left, between trees.

This road, after a crossroads with a wide street, connects, when going straight ahead, with the local road that ascends towards San Lázaro de Paniceres.

After a little less than 400 meters of circulation between meadows, with good views to the left of the neighborhoods of La Florida and El Cristo, you will reach a first nucleus of houses, in La Trapa, continuing straight ahead without taking any detour. Go straight on, between some houses and meadows, leaving a detour on the right and then another on the left. You come to a fork in the road where you must choose to stay on the road that continues to the left (while the road that leads to Pachuca and La Braña starts on the right), descending between meadows and some isolated houses, until that at the next crossroads you turn left, in the direction of Villamar. Here begins a slight ascent between meadows until just 150 meters later, you take a detour to the right, along a concrete track that ascends, with meadows on the left and trees ?? to the right, to arrive 200 meters later to a small nucleus of houses, continuing straight.

The Way then enters an area of meadows, first being flanked by thicket limiting plots and then flat between meadows, with good views to the left of the ?? valley. Continue straight on, slightly ascending, until you join another concrete track, and at this point you must continue to the left, passing immediately in front of another detour to the left. A route begins here with a gentle descent, between meadows and some isolated trees flanking the Road, reaching two hundred meters later at a fork in the tracks, in which it continues along the one on the right, under trees on both sides of the route to the beginning, and then continue on a slight descent, between meadows and bushes, with good views to the right of the peak ¿?, and without taking any detour of those that are emerging. Thus, after about 900 meters of travel from the previous fork in the road, and after ascending a short final slope, to the town of Llampaxuga.

Cross a local road and continue along an asphalt path that leads shortly to the chapel of El Carmen de Llampaxuga, which rises next to a meadow, above a covered laundry and next to a small water tank, in a dominant position over the hamlet of this population.

After the chapel, you continue along a gravel track between meadows, which approaches a small mountainous elevation, called El Bravín, before which there is a detour to the right that you take, beginning a sharp descent along a gravel track that runs between eucalyptus trees, sebes of limitation of plots and that soon already allows to contemplate, on the right-hand side, views from the top of the next town to which the Camino will arrive, Lloriana.

After a steep descent that ends in the small stream of La Huerta, which is crossed by the track itself, we ascend until we reach the place of La Pipera, a small green space where there is a washing place and a small stream that crosses down a wooden walkway. There are also several wooden benches and tables here.

In this area of La Pipera the path connects with a local road that after 150 meters of ascent leads to the town of Lloriana.

You arrive in front of the entrance gate of the farm where the Villa Rosa building is located, continuing to the left, in the direction of the nearby church of Santa María de Lloriana, located within a small green space limited by a wall of stone and bars. Attached to the church, on the outside, adjacent to the Camino, there is a washing fountain built in 1929.

After the church and the cemetery located below, take the first detour to the right, between houses. After another 50 meters, take another detour to the right, leaving on the left a strip of houses with two floors and wooden corridors on the upper floor. A steep descent begins on an asphalt road (leaving another detour at the beginning of this route on the right), between isolated houses and meadows, the route being limited for a good part of its route by stone walls of variable height.

This track leads, after just over 400 meters, to the AS-232 road, continuing straight ahead, already in the town of La Bolguina, continuing the route along a narrow dirt path parallel to the road, partly separated from it. by guardrails.

In this way you cross the nucleus of La Bolguina, after which you take the second detour to the right, in the direction of Rodiella and La Vega, along the shoulder of a local road that 800 meters later, in Fabarín, connects with the Gallegos bridge, border between the councils of Oviedo and Las Regueras.

Cross the Gallegos bridge and continue straight on, along a pedestrian path parallel to the AS-232 road, which then becomes a sidewalk that passes next to a covered laundry and continues, ascending, between single-family houses, in the place called Gallegos, until the sidewalk ends and you must pass along the shoulder of this regional road, passing by a farmhouse with a large bread basket in front (on the left). On the way, leave the road at the first detour that appears to the right, approximately 600 meters after leaving the Gallegos bridge.

The route through the so-called castañéu del Soldáu begins here, along a dirt track with sections of natural cobblestones, between deciduous trees, and more or less parallel to the Nora river, which leads to the small stream of La Reguerina, which crosses without the need for a footbridge or bridge, and which leads to a slight ascent to the entrance of the so-called Molino de Quintos, a place where the path takes a sharp turn to the left, passing through a wider track, first made of concrete. and then gravel, which in a steep ascent of more than half a kilometer, between trees, leads to some single-family homes, in the center of Los Arroxos, after which it joins an asphalt road, continuing to the left, between the closures of various houses and passing several greenhouses.

A small area with benches is left on the left at a crossroads, and ends up linking, after a sharp climb, with the AS232, turning right and reaching the town of El Escamplero, where it existed at the end of the century XIV a pilgrim hospital founded by Rodrigo Alfonso.

After less than 150 meters, you will come to a crossroads, and you must continue to the right, along the AS-233 road in the direction of Avilés. On the left, about a hundred meters from the crossroads, the first house that appears on the right corresponds to an old pilgrims’ hospital, today much transformed.

Continue along the AS233 for about 130 meters, until you take the AS234 road on the left in the direction of Valsera, in an area with a few houses. Continue along a sidewalk parallel to the road, leaving on the right a large house with a coat of arms and a large bread basket completing the complex.

Further on you pass in front of the Valsera church, on the right hand side of the road.

After the church, continue along the shoulder of the road, between ground-floor houses and some bread boxes, to arrive 170 meters later at a road junction.

To the right we continue to Tamargo, while to the left we come to a nucleus of houses, called El Charcón, in which the building of the old schools of El Escamplero is located, in which a pilgrims’ hostel is located. The Camino continues straight ahead at this junction, along the shoulder of the road, until a little more than 400 later, it takes a detour to the left, after having left behind the mountainous elevation of El Bravo, at the top of which is an isolated house. and a cemetery, to the left of the route.

The detour leads to a paved track that runs between meadows and enclosing stone walls of plots, in the center of Taraniello, starting a descent towards a water reservoir from 1970, after which it turns left, passing through a dirt and stone path, first between flanked by high stone walls and then passing in front of an old parsonage, of exposed stone, two floors and a very pronounced eaves.

This track leads to the local road, continuing along its shoulder to the left, passing between a small group of two-storey houses, after which, on a slight descent, you reach the chapel of Fátima de Valsera, on the right hand side of the road, located in a meadow next to a cemetery.

As soon as you pass the chapel, you take a detour to the left, towards the town of Valsera, along a concrete path that immediately deviates to the left, leaving the Suárez de Valsera palace on the right, a 17th-century building. XVIII, with a shield and with ashlar frames in the openings of the lower and upper floors and in the corners.

It continues in front of a row of buildings among which a two-storey construction stands out with a large open hall in the lower one, recalling the style of the Mariñano-style houses. This complex also has two granaries.

After passing this strip of buildings, continue to the left, along an asphalt path limited by a stone wall that, after a curve to the right, begins a descent through a valley between very extensive meadows on both sides, with no buildings in sight , in the area known as El Pedreu, where, honoring its name, there are many limestone rock outcrops around the Camino, which in several sections is also flanked by stone walls.

After approximately 750 meters, you come to a house, in the place of La Rabaza, at the end of a section of road outlined by dry-worked stone walls. Before reaching the house, take a detour to the left, which goes up a dirt track, entering a wooded area, on the flank of the Peña l’Aila. After a few meters, continue to the left, at a fork in the road, ascending between trees ??, and then flat, with views to the right of the town of Ania, at the top, in the vicinity of the so-called Dark Cave of Ania, of interest for the prehistoric remains located in it.

A descent between meadows and low stone walls leads, after a curve, to an area known as Picarín, where there is a house with a granary, as well as the detour, to the right, to the Picarín mill. The track here is wider, gravel, leading to a small concrete bridge over the Andallón river. After crossing it, an ascent begins that ends up connecting, in a curve, with the road ¿?, Along whose shoulder we continue, to the right, until reaching, after half a kilometer, the center of Premoño, continuing straight on, without taking a detour to the existing right at the beginning of the town.

Continue along the road, between houses and some granaries, until you reach the chapel of Santa Ana, with a granary in front of its main facade. This chapel was part of the pilgrim hospital of Santa Ana, already documented in 1426 as “refuge and shelter for pilgrims who pass on pilgrimage to the Apostle Santiago in Galicia.” This institution is believed to have been based in the house of La Portalada, still standing today.

After the chapel, continue straight ahead, along the road, for less than 400 meters, between houses, until you reach the La Tabierna neighborhood, made up of a small square in front of a strip of small buildings, located on the right-hand side from the road, with a granary in front of the open space. At this point the path deviates from the road to the right, taking the dirt track that starts between the granary and the houses.

This narrow dirt path, with some cobbled section, runs between meadows and trees, sometimes flanking it by dry stone walls, thus configuring a very interesting section of the Jacobean route. This path converges at a crossroads, opening up in front of the three-way route, of which the central one has to be chosen, a very narrow dirt road and natural cobblestone that runs between enclosures of plots and trees and that soon leads to a wider path, with cobblestone in its central part that later will pass under the palace of Ardaxe located at a higher level, behind some meadows.

Shortly after, you come to a junction that leads to the church of Valduno to the left, next to which the remains of some ancient Roman baths have been discovered, the hypocaust of which is visible from outside the temple. The Camino continues at this crossroads head-on, skirting the wide plain of the river Nalón in Valduno, continuing for a few more meters along a section of cobblestones, which then leads to a narrow dirt path, flanked by trees, sections of wall of stone and scrub. After about 300 meters, this path connects with a concrete track, continuing to the left, running between meadows of the great valley of Valduno, leaving on the right, at a higher elevation, several houses in the nucleus of El Castiellu, some of them with granaries and large bread baskets, as well as a chapel linked to one of these constructions.

This concreted path ends up converging on an asphalt road, at a crossroads behind which a farmhouse and a bread basket are located. You continue to the left, soon reaching the road ¿? and turning to the right, passing in front of the aforementioned farmhouse and going on to circulate parallel to the Nalón river.

This road leads to the town of Paladín, presided over by the great palace of Bolgues.

The town of Paladín is reached by the road, leaving the La Sierra lavadero fountain on the right.

You cross the river by a stone bridge with two spans, and continue to the left, along the road, which in slight ascent leads to the next nucleus, that of Puerma, with a few houses flanking the path, which passes next to a bread basket with decorative motifs carved on its colondras.

After another 380 meters, approximately, and after having left a house with a granary in an advanced state of neglect on the left, you will come to a fork in the road where you have to take the one that continues to the left, thus deviating from the local road that had been circulating.

This path is a dirt and stone track, which first leads to a dirt path that will circulate at the very edge of the Nalón river, to later pass through the back of a small group of houses in the place of Carril.

After these constructions, the narrow dirt path continues between trees and bushes, later reaching a wooden footbridge (baptized as Las Xanas bridge) over a stream, after which an ascent begins that a few meters later leads to the road. AS234, along whose shoulder you continue to the left. Parallel to the Nalón, you arrive further on at the nucleus of L’Arache, continuing straight on along the road, without taking the detour to the right that leads to a set of fortifications from the period of the Spanish civil war and to the nucleus of Las Ablanosas .

After this detour, a sidewalk appears on the right bank of the road, soon reaching the place of La Venta las Casas and the stone bridge over the Nalón, on the left, along which the Camino de Santiago continues, in a border area of the councils of Las Regueras, Candamo (through whose territory the route runs a few meters) and Grau/Grado.

After crossing the Peñaflor bridge, continue along the N-634 national road to the right, parallel to the train tracks and the river. You will soon arrive at the town of Peñaflor and its church of San Juan, on the left, at a crossroads. In this town there was a pilgrim hospital since 1144, promoted by King Alfonso VII next to the bridge, being in use until the 18th century, despite the fact that it had to be rebuilt many times due to the floods of the Nalón that periodically caused great damage.

The town of Peñaflor stands out for its traditional architecture, with many houses with wooden corridors. Its granaries and bread baskets deserve special attention, built on stone cellars that sometimes reach great development. A particularly interesting set of two bread baskets and a granary is located after passing the church, on the edge of the national road, all of them with pegollos (supports of the upper structure of the barn) of wood and of little height, which support in lower rooms built in stone or masonry and called caramanchones.

After leaving the church behind, at the crossroads, continue straight ahead, entering the town of Peñaflor and leaving the national highway. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead, leaving the turnoff to the train station on the right.

It runs between the houses, granaries and bread baskets of Peñaflor. There are houses between firebreaks, others with cast iron balconies in their main openings and others with wooden corridors. It is also possible to contemplate a shield.

After crossing the town, you will come to a crossroads, with a high stone wall in front, and you must continue to the right, towards an underpass under the railway line, shaped like a semicircular arch built in stone ashlar masonry. .

After crossing this pass, you continue along a wide gravel track that runs through a large plain, between meadows and some trees, already in the direction of the town of Grau/Grado. We continue straight on, between an apple orchard and several isolated buildings, until the track arrives in front of the La Cardosa polygon, between whose naves there is one that houses the facilities of the Grau/Grado ethnographic museum.

Before reaching the La Cardosa industrial estate, the Camino turns to the right and then to the left, ending after 200 meters joining an asphalt road that continues to the right, towards the Grau/Grado train station, whose tracks must be crossed through a controlled passage with security barriers, after which you turn left, towards the station building.

When you reach the main entrance of the station, turn right, ascending a cobbled street that leads to the main road, in the San Pelayo de Grau/Grado neighborhood.

You turn right, along Avenida de Valentín Andrés, and after just 50 meters you reach the stone bridge over the Cubia River, which you cross, then continue along a sidewalk, passing two roundabouts further on until you reach the park from San Antonio, which is bordered. You then arrive at the Valdecarzana palace, in front of whose main facade the route continues.

After the palace (and leaving on the right hand side the small alley that leads to the Chapel of Dolores, linked to the palace), turn right down the street, passing in front of the rectory house, in whose facade remains of ¿¨ ?, and then turn left, down the street, which leads to the square in front of the town hall of Grau/Grado, the end of this stage.

All stages of The Original Way

Share

Asturies, camín al andar

Camino de Santiago in Asturias. Information on Jacobean routes in Asturias.

Xacobeo 21-22
Gobierno del Principáu d'Asturies. Conseyería de Cultura, Política Llingüística y Turismu

© 2021 Gobierno del Principado de Asturias

Scroll to Top