Credits: Turismo Asturias – Arnaud Späni
10.00 h.- Departure from Candás.
11.15 h.– Visit to The House of the Wolf and Marrón Brothers artisan bakery (Belmonte de Miranda).
The House of The Wolf
The House of the Wolf has already become a center of tourist attraction in the Camín Real de La Mesa region. It is located in the center of the capital of the Belmonte de Miranda municipality.
On the ground floor, there are the most relevant aspects of the life of the wolf: its morphology, its behaviour, distribution, different races, customs, feeding, and the difficult relationship with man, myths and legends, and popular beliefs about this species.
On the first floor, there is a screening room where you can see the protected natural areas where the Iberian wolves live, places of community interest belonging to the European Network of Protected Areas, such as Peña Manteca, Genestaza and Montovo, La Mesa, as well as the status of the species in Asturias.
In addition, there are different spaces for workshops and temporary exhibitions not only on the wolf.
More information at www.casadellobo.com
Visit to the Marrón Brothers artisan bakery
This Hermanos Marrón artisan bakery was born from the enthusiasm of its promoter Marino Marrón, who in his childhood made spelt bread with his mother to sell in the markets of the area. Marino spent his whole life working in the construction sector as a plasterer and living in Gijón, until 2013, supported by his wife and children, they decided to return to the village and start a traditional bakery with products made from raw materials coming mostly from the Belmontine valleys (water, sausages, meats …).
The specialty is the vaqueiro bread, made with spelt flour and kneaded by hand with milk, a traditional recipe of the area. Among its most successful breads are empanadas, sweet breads, biscuits, magdadalenas, bollinas, walnut trunks, chorizo, bollos preñaos and other breads made from different flours (rye and corn).
This project received support from LEADER through the Camín Real de la Mesa Rural Development Group.
11.45 h.– Departure.
12.00 h.– Visit to House-Palace of Cardinal Cienfuegos (Agüerina, Belmonte de Miranda).
Visit to the House-Palace of the Cardinal Cienfuegos
The House-Palace of Cardinal Cienfuegos is a typical noble construction from the mid. 17th century, which has all the characteristics of the noble houses of those times. It is a palace that has a tower, chapel, land and rooms for agricultural use (where the economic power came from), an interior courtyard and the noble floor in the house.
The galleries are from the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the successive reforms and renovations were directed to maintain the appearance of the house, trying not to alter it to conceive its vision from its origins. The furniture that preserves the house mixes the classic Asturian rural style, with the classic French style and imported by D. Salvador Pujó.
12.30 h.– Departure.
13.00 h.– Visit to the Hydroelectric Power Plant La Malva (Somiedo).
Visit to the Hydroelectric Power Plant La Malva
The Hydroelectric Power Plant La Malva, located in the Somiedo Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve, was the first large generating plant in the region of Asturias and the origin of Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico.
This installation, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary and takes advantage of the rivers and lakes of Somiedo, was a titanic project for the time that included the construction of 17 kilometres of tunnels and 570 metres of waterfalls in a steep area located 1,500 metres above sea level. In addition, the first 73 kilometres of high-voltage networks were installed between the power station and major urban centres. Not in vain is it considered that with it came the development to Asturias.
With it was built a network of asphalted roads that allowed the communication of the small towns of the Somiedo Valley with the main cities. The preservation of the environment and its sustainable development was and is a priority of the La Malva project. The plant has a power of 9.14MW and produces 44,000 MWh per year.
More information at www.espana.edp.com/es/la-malva
13.40 h.– Departure.
13.45 h.– Lunch in Pola de Somiedo (Somiedo). Visit to the Interpretation Center of the Natural Park of Somiedo.
The Interpretation Center of the Natural Park of Somiedo
The Natural Park of Somiedo can be considered one of the protected spaces that best represents the natural and ethnographic values of the Asturian mountain. With an approximate extension of 291 km2, the limits of the Park coincide with those of the council.
Somiedo was the first Asturian area to be declared a Natural Park in June 1988. This declaration was complemented in 2000 as a Biosphere Reserve. Somiedo’s main economic activity has been and continues to be extensive meat farming. However, the declaration of a Natural Park has meant a notable increase in the tertiary sector related to visitor services and a greater tourist influence.
The Interpretation Centre’s equipment is intended to be a space for leisure and enjoyment that highlights the natural values of the Somiedo Natural Park. The permanent exhibition room contains exhaustive information on different aspects and values of the park: biogeography, climate, geology, hydrography and use of water, soils, vegetation, ethnography, public use, protection and management, as well as a large space dedicated to fauna that pays special attention to the Brown Bear.
More information at www.parquenaturalsomiedo.es
14.45 h.– Meeting with cattle breeders and hoteliers in Somiedo.
15.45 h.– Visit to the Bear House and the Brown Bear Foundation (FOP).
The Bear House and Brown Bear Foundation
The Bear House of Somiedo, located in Pola de Somiedo, is a good opportunity to learn about the life and conservation problems of the brown bear and its relationship with the humans with whom it shares territory.
Managed by the Brown Bear Foundation, it explains in a didactic way the territory in which the bear lives and its customs. The tour also makes reference to the coexistence with the inhabitants of the council from the times of persecution (documented with official books of past centuries where the captures were registered, or with artifacts used for such purpose) to the present time of pride among the Somedians for contributing to its conservation.
More information at fundacionosopardo.org
16.45 h.– Departure to Candás.
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