Cámara Santa de Oviedo and Eglise Santa Maria de Soto de Luiña

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Cámara Santa de Oviedo

   Oviedo is a surprise, a small, green, rainy capital with an almost Alpine smell of woodsmoke and a history that begins with a king. In the early ninth century Alfonso II, called the Chaste, moved his court here and began building churches in a style now called Asturian pre-Romanesque, which is unlike anything else in Spain, with tall narrow proportions, round arches and decorated stone. The Cámara Santa is a chapel inside the cathedral of San Salvador, built to protect relics and treasures, and it still holds the Cross of the Angels, dated to 808, and the Cross of Victory, which belonged to the later king Alfonso III and became the emblem of Asturias. UNESCO included the city's early monuments in its list in 1985.

   Read the complete Cámara Santa de Oviedo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cámara Santa de Oviedo is where the day begins. Next is La Peña de Candamo.

2. 2. La Peña de Candamo

   In the hills above the Nalón valley in Asturias, a cave hides one of the great collections of Paleolithic art in Spain. The Cueva de la Peña de Candamo, near San Román de Candamo, was discovered in 1914 and contains paintings and engravings of horses, bison, deer, goats and other animals, made during the Upper Paleolithic, and a remarkable wall of engraved figures. It is part of the UNESCO listing of cave art in northern Spain, and unlike some other caves, it can be visited, though only in limited numbers and for part of the year, so book ahead.

   Read the complete La Peña de Candamo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   La Peña de Candamo comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Eglise Santa Maria de Soto de Luiña.

3. 3. Eglise Santa Maria de Soto de Luiña

   Soto de Luiña is a quiet parish in western Asturias, a short way inland from one of the wildest stretches of the Cantabrian coast, and its church of Santa María is the reason the village has a name beyond the region. The building is baroque, rebuilt in the eighteenth century around older foundations, and alongside it stands the former pilgrims' hospital that once took in walkers on the coastal Way of Saint James. The church's interior, with its gilded altarpieces, comes as a surprise in such a small place, and the whole ensemble gives a sense of how the Camino shaped even modest villages along the route.

   Read the complete Eglise Santa Maria de Soto de Luiña write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Eglise Santa Maria de Soto de Luiña. Next is back through La Peña de Candamo.

4. 4. back through La Peña de Candamo

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete La Peña de Candamo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through La Peña de Candamo, late in the day. Next is Cámara Santa de Oviedo.

5. 5. Cámara Santa de Oviedo

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cámara Santa de Oviedo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Cámara Santa de Oviedo. That is the ride.