The Road from Santiago

  It's another day for the purist.  We have splendid views and improved roads.  The Mirador Castro de Pendia and attached picnic area is our first stop.  44 people have reviewed it  The key thing is you can see a fortified enclosure - using the local stone - which was settled in Pre-Roman times and continued in use till the the early Medieval.  It has not one, but two saunas. One is Pre-Roman and the other Roman.  https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castro_de_Pendia   Onwards we go and so to a small cafe - La Bodega.  It has no reviews and so might as well not exist.  Down hill from it is a two star hotel, La Casa Abuelo Justo.  Grandpa Justo’s house gets 4.7 stars.  The worst review - 3 stars - can only pick on the road.  ‘The great house, suitable for all needs, the super quiet place, surrounded by mountains and peace. A very rural area. Just to put a but, the road is curvy. Thanks to Rocío.’  Maria was not put off by the...

  We are heading down about 100m but mainly we are moving along the side of a valley which is doing steep.  To one side are woods or pastures, to the other are houses showing the need to learn how to do a hill start when driving.  Hamlet after hamlet is offering up its scattered dwellings. Our first stop is a 4.5 star park. El Fondello  Few people say why they gave it 3, 4 or 5 stars.  Claudia feels it is ‘ A very well-equipped place for any party or celebration.; Cristina would have gone to six stars of the place had a loo. We will have to stop at the bee museum.  The Casa de la Apicultura  https://www.boal.es/la-casa-de-la-apicultura is enough to be worth half an hour of anyone’s time. It has an audiovisual and the beekeeping themed library.  We had a picture of a Cortin when in Galicia and talking of bees.  Here is what they have to say: ‘ EL CORTÍN is a construction that has traditionally provided shelter for hives. The plant is circular...

W e are going to dip off the road to come into Boal from the side.  The tiny lane tells you everything you need to know.  Boal is spot welded onto the slide of a very long slope. It hugs the contour, mostly to make it possible to go from one end of town to the other without the need mountaineering gear. Boal seems to have progressed in the 18th century, when the town had four fulling mls, eight wrought iron workshops, a forge and 42 grain mills. During the Napoleonic Wars  French troops occupied Boal in the belief that a weapons factory existed in the town. A group of Boales residents participated in the " Alarm of the Cherry Grove " (they who gathered to prevent an invasion or defend themselves from the enemy), but they could not prevent Maurice Mathieu 's soldiers from invading the town on March 19, 1809. , establishing a camp in Llaviada , and causing numerous deaths, looting and destruction. During the Carlist War the council was invaded again: in 1836, a guerrilla ...

We have a positive wealth of things to look at today.  Before we even leave Rozadas we have the Centro de Interpretación de la Artesanía del Hierro - if you want iron interpreted for you, this is the place.  This is one of those tiny museums of which Spain abounds. You have a tour or wander about yourself.  There are two audiovisuals to tell you about ore gets made into stuff and a model of a forge,  No one has reviewed this, be the first! Having been going up and up since we crossed the border, it is now time to peak at 782m. There is an observation desk at Alton Penouta.  It gets 4.6 stars.  Manel said ‘It is very interesting for the views, archaeological remains, and also the peaks on both sides of the road and there is also a very nice PICNIC AREA’   Yago has more of a tale to tell.  ‘I have been going up to the area for many years, there is a lot of forest and two large viewpoints, one in the recreational area of ​​Penouta Costa, windmil...

The road wiggles, following the valley and the river and ends up in Rozadas.  It has a populace of 79 people.  Thirteen villages in this region number 214 people in all  So, back to kings. Bermundo I. aka ‘the Deacon’ and ‘The Monk’ was king from 788 till he abdicated in 791. He was put forward by nobles who didn’t want Fruela I’s son, Alfonso, to become king.  His short, but eventful reign, saw a Moorish invasion of parts of Asturian territory.  At the Battle of Burbia River, in 791 an Asturian ambush was turned into a retreat and after which Bermundo abdicated. At last, Alfonso II, so of Fruela became king. He moved the capital from Pravia to Oviedo.  During his reign, and at a very useful moment, the tomb of St James was discovered in Santiago Much of his early reign was spent dealing with raids by the Emir of Andalusia into Asturias. Alfonso established ties with Charlemange. He seems to have got some support which he used against the Moors and his unwi...

  We end with houses today, so lets start with kings.  Enter Mauregatus the Usurper.  That is not a great name.  Mauregatus  was king from 783 to 789.  He was apparently the love child of Alfonso I and, according to some, a Moorish serf.  That last bit, along with ‘the usurper’ makes it sound like the Chronicle writer wanted people to think he was a wrong ‘un.  Apparently [fpr a given value of apparently] in return for Moorish help in become king Mauregatus agreed to hand over 100 maidens.  This so outraged the local nobles that they rebled and got rid of the king.   Not a lot is  really known about his reign. During this time the hymn of St James was written which is one of the earliest parts of the legend linking Iago to Galacia.   Ok, houses and by houses I mean a few houses. Vega de Ouria has 18 people living in it and is 360m above sea level Its Wiki page is in Spanish, Basque  and Asturian.   The Basques th...

Sometimes I do wonder.  We are passing, according to Google, A Folgueirosa.  This is a historical landmark.  The picture shows spindly ivy encrusted trees.  There are no reviews but somehow someone has marked it as ‘kid friendly.’ It is not marked LGBTQ+ friendly.  Maybe it is indifferent.  From the road it looks like an old building.  We could make something up. I’m getting strong ‘5th century Cornish saint of whom we know nothing’ vibes. Let us pass on. The next excitement happens when the AS23 turns off to the north.  By it is Pio Porcia. A nature reserve.  It has three reviews, averages 4.7 but only Benja had the decency to leave us some words. Three to be exact.  ‘Beautiful place. Magical.’ Better do another king.   Aurelius. He was a nephew of Alfonso I. It is all about to get very messy. When Fruela was assassinated the nobility of Asturias - and given how few people lived there and how scattered they were I am not sure an im...