Villages of the Redes Natural Park

Towns in the Redes Natural Park on the map

See on the map Villages of the Redes Natural Park

Latitude: 43.2217636 Length: -5.4515576
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There are two Asturian councils that make up the Redes Natural Park. Case and Surrender. Having passed the enormous dam of the Tanes reservoir, the road takes us winding towards the heart of the Park and the capital of the municipality of Caso: Campo de Caso. The municipality of Sobrescobio is the gateway to the Park after overcoming the Rioseco reservoir. Together they form a vast, sparsely populated and dispersed territory.

CASO: geographically speaking Its entire territory is within the Redes natural park, and it is the land where the Nalón river is born -specifically in Tarna-. Its economy is based mainly on the primary sector, focusing on production and marketing of Casín cheese, jewel of local gastronomy. It is a municipality that sends emigration, in a first phase this goes towards America (Cuba and Argentina mainly), but it was at the end of the 20th century, when its exodus was massive and towards different areas such as the industrial areas of Asturias.

OVERSCOBIO: The name derives from "super-scopulum, on the escobio", a name given to the gorges and which here refers to the entrance step to the council. There were already settlers in the Neolithic as several burial mounds attest; pre-Roman forts of the Corona de Castro and the passage of the Romans, vestiges remain of the cobbled road that crosses the council from east to west, from the vicinity of Rioseco, crossing the gorges of the Nalón river until reaching Anzó. After Visigoths, monastic lordships, Alfonso XI grants Carta Puebla to the council of Sobrescobio.

Towns in the municipality of Caso

· CASE FIELD
The Campus, in Asturian, is the capital of the Caso council, and here are concentrated administrative services and small businesses in the area, in addition to being a strategic point in the tourist activities of the Redes Natural Park.

The town hall, the Torre house - which has a chapel of medieval origin -, the church of San Juan Bautista, the medieval bridge over the Nalón, the Suárez Ballesteros mansion (from the 17th century) are worth a visit and highlights the Indian architecture, and the La Lastra mansion and estate (18th century), on a hill in the heart of the town.

· CALEAO
At 717 m altitude and 11 kilometers from the capital of the municipality (Campo de Caso), Caleao is a charming little village surrounded by an immensity of beech and chestnut mountains, limestone peaks and gorges. It has a good number of houses perched on the slopes of the mountain - following the pattern of Asturian villages -, cobblestone roads and, at times, quite steep.

A good way to get to know Caleao is to visit what is known as Water Route, a journey of about 90 minutes that covers the main landmarks, including the parish church dedicated to Santa Cruz de la Real or the Sonxerru Laundry. In Caleao they celebrate the festival of San Antonio in January, and Santa Cruz in the month of May.

· TANES
Part of its lands were submerged in the 70s for the construction of the reservoir of the same name, which supplies water to the entire central Asturian area, and thus houses, a factory and the fertile crop plains disappeared. The reservoir is of ornithological interest due to the presence of ducks, waders, herons and representative fauna, being a hunting refuge; An active tourism initiative is currently being launched to enjoy the reservoir while sailing through its waters.

It is interesting the collegiate church of Santa María La Real -built between the 14th and XNUMXth centuries-, one of the most outstanding architectural works of the Nalón region and an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) Historical Heritage of Spain. Its large dimensions respond to the need to have ample space for the parishioners, who also demanded to be buried inside. In Tanes they celebrate the festival of El Cristo on September XNUMX.

· TARNA
The town of Tarna has not been an isolated place but a busy enclave that linked the coast and the plateau, and the existence of a Camino Real that crossed the town until the 20th century indicates its importance as a natural route (this Camín Real links with the Camín Real del Sellón). In this 20th century begins for Tarna marked by the strong migration phenomenon towards the Americas which has its beginnings at the end of the 19th century. Various neighbors will stand out, who manage to make their fortune in several Latin American countries and bring new cosmopolitan ideas to Tarna.

Perhaps it is better known the port of Tarna, a mountain pass -1492 m asl- that connects the provinces of León and Asturias, crossing the Cantabrian mountain range from S to NE. The Asturian slope is full of horseshoe curves and steep ramps, about 835 meters in just 17 kilometers; Perhaps that is why they have risen to their summit in different editions in the Vuelta Ciclista a España.

Towns in the municipality of Sobrescobio

· SOTO DE AGÜES
The Ruta del Alba, one of the best-known Asturian hiking trails, begins and ends in this town.

· DRY RIVER
Rioseco is located on the shore of the homonymous reservoir and very close to the Tanes reservoir, both serve the Tanes Hydroelectric Power Plant - as a curiosity we will say that the film was filmed inside «Gary Cooper you are in heaven«, by Pilar Miró-. The town's relationship with water is undoubted, and so in 2002 a museum and environmental education center was opened, called the House of Water dedicated to the study of water and the uses that have been given to it in the municipality and throughout the area.

The neighborhood community of Sobrescobio received the Award for the Exemplary Town of Asturias 2009 and as a reminder, a commemorative sculpture was inaugurated in the plaza of the Rioseco church.