El Camino del Salvador.

The Way of the Savior is crucial when addressing the relationship of Asturias with the Jacobean routes. We must go back to the year 1075, when King Alfonso VI proceeded to the opening of the Holy Ark and the relics that had rested inside it for several centuries came to light. The value of the discovery, mainly due to the symbolic nature of the Holy Shroud, not only made Oviedo/Uviéu strengthen its condition as a starting point for all those who were on pilgrimage to Santiago: it also made the Asturian capital become a pilgrimage center by its own merits. It became famous, in the remote times of the Middle Ages, a popular verse that exemplifies well the importance of this route and that even today many of those who arrive in Asturias recite following the tracks that lead to the tomb of the apostle:

He who goes to Santiago and does not go to the Savior, visits the servant and forgets the Lord.

The Camino del Salvador thus emerged as a detour from the French Way that allowed those who took it to connect with the Primitive Way if they so wished, but it also offered a meaningful end to the route in its own right.

In this sense and in the recommendations that we make from Bicigrino thinking about cyclists is a possibility and an approach to consider for those who make the French way as it passes through the city of Leon take this detour and visiting Oviedo and then by the Primitive Way or the Coast access to Santiago de Compostela. Undoubtedly it will be a magnificent finishing touch to a long journey.

Also start the Camino de Santiago by bicycle in León and make this route can be an excellent choice for a cycling trip of the highest level for its unique beauty.

Another possibility could be to make this return journey from Santiago itself in reverse. In ancient times, when pilgrims arrived at Compostela, they did not return to their homes as we do today by bus, train, plane, etc., but the same as they were pilgrims on the outward journey, they were also pilgrims on the return journey, as they had to retrace their steps to return to their homes.

The essence of these remote and secluded tents in the mountains of Asturias, even though we are pedaling on modern machines of the XXI century, will transport us to an introspective journey that will take us back in time. If you really don’t want to miss a great adventure you should consider these roads.

The ascent to the Pajares pass of hard ramps, perhaps many prefer to do it on asphalt, even so it will be a breathtakingly beautiful ascent for the landscapes through which we will ride and the vertiginous descent through the Asturian slope will be a gift for the senses.

Vestiges of the past

Under the old railroad station of Pajares, suspended in the fog in an almost implausible landscape, begins a route in which there are not too many medieval traces. The first, however, is of great importance. The church of Santa Cristina de Lena, built during the time of the Asturian Monarchy and ascribed to the Ramirense period, is one of the most paradigmatic pre-Romanesque buildings in Asturias.

The Camino enters Mieres del Camín/Mieres through the emblematic bridge of La Perra and leaves it through the no less popular square of Requejo. A few kilometers away, in La Rebollá/La Rebollada, there used to be an inn and the parish church still preserves a few Romanesque corbels. At the foot of the village, and as a curiosity, there is a small Protestant cemetery where the remains of Numa Guilhou, founder of the Fábrica de Mieres, rest. The baroque fountain of Llocos is another place worth stopping at before reaching Olloniego/Lluniego, a town that inevitably attracts attention with its Romanesque bridge and the tower and castle, also built in medieval times. The Way ends at the cathedral of Oviedo/Uviéu, whose Holy Chamber marks the definitive end of the journey.

** The text published in this article is inspired by the following publication:

Put here the link to the guide of the road in Asturias in pdf format.

PUBLIC COMPANY FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND PROMOTION OF TOURISM AND

CULTURAL DEL PRINCIPADO DE ASTURIAS, SAU

D.L.: AS 01571-2018

DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, LINGUISTIC POLICY AND TOURISM

OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS