The Original Way

Stage 4: Tinéu - Pola de Allande

27.46 kilometer stage that runs through the councils of Tinéu and Allande, linking the capitals of both municipalities. It is a route that is carried out mainly on dirt and gravel paths (some of which are parallel to modern local or regional roads).

In the first part of the itinerary, you ascend from Tinéu to the top of Piedratecha ??, saving a difference of about two hundred meters in five kilometers, to then start a steep descent of about 300 meters in three kilometers, then maintaining a route without great incidents until the final ascent, on the border between Tinéu and Allande, of the Lavadoira peak, from which a sharp descent begins towards the town of Pola de Allande.

This stage enters fully into the western Asturian area, characterized by its buildings with a slate roof and by small villages that mark the Jacobean itinerary, such as Villal.luz, Vega del Rey, Campiel.lu, Borres, Porciles or Ferrói, all of them small nuclei of agricultural and livestock dedication, in which many traditional buildings and heritage elements of interest survive, such as small chapels and churches. Between the population centers, the Way runs between meadows and wooded areas, and the route is often flanked by dry stone walls.

The monastery of Santa María la Real de Oubona stands out among the cultural heritage of the stage, located a few meters from the official route, and which is one of the milestones of the Asturian Primitive Way, so much so that even King Alfonso IX ordered in 1222 that this place was an obligatory stop on the pilgrimage route to Compostela. The towns of Tinéu and Pola de Allande also treasure remarkable architectural testimonies of interest, with the Cienfuegos Palace standing out in the Allan capital, which dominates the town from the top where it is located.

The documentary references indicate that the Camino de Santiago had a transcendental importance in the configuration of the territory through which this stage runs. Many towns owe their existence and their configuration to the passage of the Jacobean route through them. The deviation from the route imposed in 1222 to make the passage of pilgrims through Oubona compulsory has already been mentioned. In addition, the first mention of a pilgrim hospital on the entire Camino de Santiago is related to the Villarmil hospital, located in the town of Bourres, and already mentioned in a document from 883. In Pola de Allande there was also a pilgrim hospital , located in the place of Cimadevilla, close to the Cienfuegos palace.

Stage description

Beginning of the stage in the square in front of the parish church and the old monastery of San Francisco. In it there is a stone transept and a fountain. We continue, looking towards the church, along the first street on the left, called Travesía de la torre, next to some houses with wide wooden corridors on the first floor, and flanking the Casa de los García building, a period palace Gothic developed from a primitive defensive tower, which is preserved and next to which the Camino de Santiago passes.

After the tower, you continue to the right, along Calle de la Fuente, between houses of two heights, as well as next to granaries and bread baskets that raise their pegoyos on cellars. Going straight down this street, and after passing a row of low-floor houses, you will arrive, in a curve, at a fountain attached to a stone wall, with a wooden structure covering it.

Continue straight ahead, along a ramp that develops to the right of the fountain, which happens to be at a lower level of the Camino, in an area where the meadows are taking center stage. You quickly ascend to a height from which you can contemplate the hamlet of Tinéu from an elevated position.

Three hundred meters after the fountain, you will arrive, between meadows, at another fountain, that of San Juan, with a laundry, located on the right hand side of the Camino.

Shortly after leaving the fountain behind, in a curve, you continue straight ahead, leaving the asphalt track on which you had been circulating, going on to another track that ascends and that less than three hundred meters later, after a deviation to the right that is not taken, it becomes a track of dirt and stone. At a fork in the road ahead, continue straight ahead, on the right, along a track between meadows that soon leads to the Robléu stream, which is crossed over a small footbridge.

We then ascend, between trees and meadows, along a track that leaves on the left a viewpoint named in honor of Queen Letizia from which an excellent panoramic view of the town of Tinéu can be seen for the last time. Then continue along a track until you reach the next junction, where you take the path to the right, which will enter the slope of Mount Brañugas along a concrete track that ascends and that soon after gives way to a dirt path , sandwiched between earth slopes on the right and stone walls delimiting plots on the left, continuing the ascent practically parallel to the itinerary of the AS-217 road, which at a lower height extends to the left, as does the Piedrafita town, which the Camino does not reach.

Continue along this path until you reach a fork in the road, where you must opt for the one on the right, which climbs between stone walls and the earth slope, between trees, some meadows, and excellent views to the left from the valleys of Tinéu. After 270 meters, a detour is left on the right hand side, continuing straight ahead, between trees ¿? along a dirt path that sometimes has firm cobblestones, being in wide sections of the route flanked by dry stone walls and sometimes by large stone slabs buried in the ground, forming alignments of great beauty.

1.6 kilometers after the previous crossing, the track ends at a local road, in the Alto Guardia, having to turn to the left, along the shoulder of the road, leveling between meadows, until just 130 meters later the first detour is taken that appears on the right, a dirt and stone track that runs straight, perpendicular to the road, and that on the right allows you to contemplate a wind farm in the nearby El Chao rock, while its route takes place between meadows, bordering the peak of Puliares.

After 230 meters, at a fork, take the path to the left, running the path between the fences of the adjoining plots, resolved in this case with wooden posts and wire. From the path you can see, on the right, at the bottom of the valley, the town of ¿?.

After a little more than 1,100 meters of travel along this path, you will come to a concrete track, perpendicular to the one that had been used and located in front of a mass of pine trees. Take the track and continue to the left, descending along it for about 400 meters, until it joins a local road ??. Continue to the right at this point, until you reach a road junction, in Piedratecha, continuing along the AS.350 road, which to the right leads to Bárcena de Monasterio.

It runs along a narrow dirt path parallel to the road for about 600 meters, until you take the first turning to the left that you come across, connecting with a dirt and stone track that descends between an oak forest, with sloping areas of earth and others of stone wall delimiting the route, so that, without taking any detour to the right or left, arrive, just over a kilometer later, at a fork in the road. Continuing straight on, you reach the monastery of Santa María la Real de Oubona, after a journey of only 440 meters.

The route of the Camino continues, at this fork, to the left, along a track between trees from which later, in a curve, you will be able to contemplate good panoramic views of the Oubona monastery and the town of Oubona that extends to an upper level of the same.

This track leads, after approximately 1.7 kilometers, to the town of Villal.luz, at this point the route becomes an asphalt road.

Upon reaching the town, at a crossroads next to a green wooded area, you can take a detour to the right that, after about 90 meters, leads to the old town chapel, dedicated to Santo Cristo del Amparo, located now in front of a bread basket that is part of the whole of a farm.

At the crossroads, you must turn left, along a dirt path that flanks the green wooded space, reaching a fountain-washhouse, which is located on the right, and a little further on, to the right, to the chapel New town, built in the 1990s and which houses inside a carving of Cristo del Amparo from the old chapel of Villal.luz.

Continue along a paved road that after 150 meters leads to the TI-3 road, along whose shoulder you pass, turning right. Between meadows and isolated houses, this road allows you to go through the places of Vega del Rey (shortly after leaving the detour to San Martín Semproniana on the left), Berrugoso (with a covered laundry on the right) and Las Tiendas. In all cases, these are small nuclei, with some housing, livestock buildings and some granary and bread basket.

After passing Las Tiendas, and once you have left behind a very pronounced curve to the left (before and after which there are detours that do not have to be taken), continue along the shoulder of the road until you reach the town of Campiel.lu, one of the nuclei of the council of Tinéu that have most intensely noticed the impulse of the Jacobean rebirth that Asturias has experienced in recent decades.

In Campiel.lu there are several hostels for private pilgrims, as well as different catering establishments, all within an altered farmhouse that still retains some old buildings of interest, as well as a few granaries and a large bowling alley.

At the existing road junction in the center of town, continue on the one on the right. After leaving the last houses of Campiel.lu behind, continue along the sidewalk of the TI3- road, reaching El Freisno half a kilometer later, first appearing a large bread basket next to a farmhouse, and then other houses, flanking the Camino a large carbayeda, on the left, where the small hermitage of La Magdalena is located, which preserves a Romanesque carving of great interest.

After the chapel, continue straight ahead and then take a detour to circulate for a few meters in front of a row of buildings that are on the right, turning after them to circulate on the TI-3, to later pass through another town, The Spin.

Once past the houses of El Espín, turn left, in the direction of Pereda and Sangoñedo, along a local road that continues for about 300 meters (having left a detour on the right hand side towards the town de El Espín, which is not followed), to, in a curve, take a dirt and stone track that ascends between a line of trees that then gives way to a meadow. At a later junction, take the path to the left, a dirt and stone path that runs between meadows, to end up driving to the vicinity of an abandoned farmhouse, on the left hand side of the Path, a little less than 600 meters after starting. running through this track.

After the abandoned house, which also has a bread basket in poor condition, continue straight ahead, beginning to appear the first buildings of the town of Bourres, some of them on a higher level, flanking the local road, in the case of the old schools , enabled for years as a pilgrims’ hostel, recovering for this town a hospitable tradition that starts from the same origin of the phenomenon of pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, in the 9th century.

You arrive at the La Reguera fountain-washhouse, on the right hand side of the path, at a crossroads where you must continue straight ahead, arriving 150 meters later at the center of Bourres, passing the path to be concreted.

You go through the town, between livestock sheds, houses, enclosure walls of plots and some granaries, ascending until you reach a small crossroads, located under the retaining wall of the plot where the church of Santa María stands.

At this point, you turn right, ascending until you come to the AS-219 regional road, which you cross, to ascend a wide concrete track between livestock buildings and some houses. After a curved route of about 120 meters, and having left the last buildings of Bourres behind, continue straight ahead along a narrow path of concrete first, then earth and stone, between stone walls at the beginning, which runs between trees and meadows, allowing to contemplate, on the left, a good view of the whole town of Bourres

We continue straight on, leaving an isolated house on the left, and a little further on a detour to the right, running between pine trees and meadows, to arrive, just over a kilometer after having left Bourres behind, at a fork in the road, at the place known as La Solana. To the right we continue along the Los Hospitales bypass, which will be described in another stage, while straight ahead towards Pola de Allande, the final destination of this stage.

Therefore, we continue straight ahead, along a dirt road sandwiched between earth slopes from which trees emerge, to reach a little more than 200 meters later to a small group of houses, with granaries, a place where the road passes to be concreted. You descend between these buildings until you come to the AS-219 road, the town of Samblismu, crossing the road to continue down a concrete track that turns to the right, flanking a meadow and then passing between several buildings, in the case of a large bread basket located on a stone cellar, at whose feet the path runs.

After leaving these buildings behind, you come to a crossroads where a track leads, to the right, towards the local road, having to continue at this point on the left, along a concrete track that runs parallel to the local road, but at a lower level, between meadows. After about 110 meters, it passes a farmhouse on the left, with a granary, and the Way becomes a dirt and stone track, which runs between meadows and trees, on a slight downward slope, reaching, after 800 meters, the town of La Mortera.

At the beginning of this nucleus, another detour to the right (which is not taken) leads to the local road, the Jacobean route continues straight ahead, along an asphalt road, limited to the right by dry stone walls and to the left by ships cattle ranches, which goes into the town, between houses and granaries and breadbaskets, crossing it without taking any detour to the right or left, in the case of one that leads almost to the exit of the town, along an asphalt road that starts in a curve to the left , to an uncovered laundry fountain.

After this detour that is not taken, continue straight, next to several farmhouses with granaries, and passing under the remains of the old palace of Maldonado, from the seventeenth century, on the right, today totally taken by the vegetation, which makes it impossible to appreciate With the naked eye nothing of the factory of this old construction.

At this point, next to the ruin, you must take a detour to the left, through an asphalt track that after 140 meters leads to an isolated farmhouse with a granary, after which the path becomes a gravel track, which it descends between meadows until it reaches a sharp curve to the left, through which the small river La Mortera runs.

After it, we continue on a slight ascent, leaving a detour on the left and then arriving at a fork in the paths where we must take the one on the right, going steeply up a dirt path, flanked by stone walls that delimit its route, until it ends up connecting with the AS-219 road. You turn left, along a dirt track parallel to the road, which after just 30 meters deviates to the left, along a narrow dirt road that, after another 80 meters, converges again with the local road.

Cross this road and proceed along its shoulder for about 50 meters, then, at a sharp bend in the road, turn off to the right, along an asphalt road that is abandoned almost immediately, to take, on the left, a narrow dirt path that descends, bends to the left passing the small stream Rioscuro, and crossing an underpass of the autonomous highway AS-219. After this, you continue to the right for approximately 380 meters, until you reach a road junction (the one that goes to Colinas de Abajo starts on the left, and you must continue to the right).

Cross the road and reach the town of Colinas de Arriba.

The Camino crosses the town on a paved track that leads back to the local road, along whose shoulder you follow 50 meters and then cross it and continue along a narrow dirt and stone track that descends, between trees, to the Vichaverde stream, which it is crossed by a wooden walkway. After crossing it, you ascend between trees, along the dirt track, leaving a detour on the left, and connecting with an asphalt road that, to the right, ends up converging, after a few meters, with the AS-219 regional road, continuing the route then to the left, along a narrow dirt and stone path parallel to the road, which leads to the Alto de Porciles, at an altitude of 773 m.

After leaving the hill behind, you will come to a crossroads, and you must continue straight ahead, along the AS219 towards Pola de Allande, leaving the Porciles cemetery on your right hand side shortly afterwards. Then you come to a building, on the left, after leaving behind which you cross the TI-5 road that leads to Gera, and continue straight ahead, immediately reaching the church of San Roque, which is at a height bottom of the road.

After the church, continue along the narrow dirt path parallel to the carriageway of the regional road, reaching the Porciles housing complex, with some bread boxes, houses with a gallery and modern buildings.

You leave behind a house with a hotel business and immediately afterwards turn left, just before the last house in town. You continue along a concrete track that descends steeply for a few meters later, turn right and continue along a dirt and stone track, boxed in between stone walls in an initial section.

After leaving a detour to the right, it descends to the Porciles river, crossing it by a wooden footbridge, after which it continues along another section of path between stone walls, then reaching a plain where you must turn right , going up an area in which steps have been set up to overcome the steep slope that exists here, then continuing along a narrow dirt path, boxed in the ground, which ends up leading to the AS-219 regional road after about 350 meters of ascent .

Continue to the left, along a path parallel to the regional road, reaching after about 250 meters the Llavadoira peak (806 m high) and the town of the same name, border between the councils of Tinéu and Allande, in the that now the Primitive Way enters.

As soon as you reach the Llavadoira peak, at a crossroads (the one on the right being the regional road and the one on the left being the road that starts from it and that goes to La Corcolina), take the central path, a track of land that descends along the slope of Mount Buño among pines and other trees, with some specific paved section, and that after approximately 1.6 kilometers (without taking any detour and having left behind a firebreak through which an electrical line runs supported by high metallic turrets), reaches the first buildings in the town of Ferroy, starting with a washing fountain on the left, and then some nave and houses with granaries. The town is crossed in a southerly direction, descending between the houses and other auxiliary buildings.

After leaving Ferroy behind, you go down an asphalt road until you reach the AS-219 regional road, continuing to the right, along the hard shoulder, for less than 30 meters, then turn left and continue along a track of land, with paved sections, which, delimited by stone walls, descends until it reaches the small stream Mourás, which is saved thanks to a wooden footbridge. Crossing the stream, you turn left, following a dirt track parallel to the watercourse, with a concrete wall on the right delimiting a plot on which a two-level building sits surrounded by an asphalt esplanade.

After a climb of about 60 meters, you arrive at the AS-217 regional road, continuing along its shoulder to the left, towards the capital of the council, Pola de Allande, which you reach immediately.

After about 100 meters, you can take a detour to the right, along a cobbled street that crosses a steep slope, ascending until you reach some blocks of flats, and then leaving a recently built fountain on the right. This path continues to the building that houses the Pola de Allande pilgrim’s hostel, later linking with the official path on the regional road, already in transit through the town.

The official Camino enters Pola de Allande through the regional highway, which is renamed Avenida de América when entering the town. Leaving the aforementioned detour on the right, we continue until we reach a curve, where, on the left, the Villa Rosario building is located, a large mountain-style construction, from the early twentieth century, of Indian promotion.

After this construction, you move on to the sidewalk, on Avenida de América, through an area of single-family homes, some more modern blocks and facilities such as the Civil Guard barracks or the pilgrims’ hostel, on the right hand side. After a journey of about 270 meters along this avenue, you turn left through a narrow alley and you come to Calle Nueva and the parish church of San Andrés, the end point of this stage.

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