Pass of Piedrasluengas
| Pass of Piedrasluengas | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Top of the pass, in the direction of Potes-Cervera de Pisuerga. Location between Cantabria and Palencia | |
| Elevation | Cantabrian Mountains |
| Location |  SpainPiedrasluengas, Cantabria Castile and León |
| Road CA-184 - CL-627, Cabezón de Liébana - Piedrasluengas | |
The pass of Piedrasluengas, at 1.355 m, is a mountain pass between the province of Palencia and Cantabria (Spain), which crosses the Cantabrian mountain range, linking the Palencian town of Cervera de Pisuerga with the Cantabrian town of Potes, in the Liébana region. From the high part of the pass there is also a road that heads towards the Cantabrian valley of Polaciones. The pass reaches a maximum altitude of 1,390 m above sea level, via the road known as CL-627 for Castile and León and CA-184 for Cantabria.[1]
Etymology
[edit]
The unusual adjective ‘luengo’ comes from the Latin longus, which means ‘vast’ or ‘large’, so the meaning of the toponym is ‘pass of large stones’. In any case, the toponym comes from the nearby Palencia hamlet of the same name (Piedrasluengas); and indeed, next to it, some large stones that form curious shapes are very striking.[2][3]
History
[edit]Its route gives rise to two ancient routes such as the old Roman road that evolved into the Royal Way of La Valdavia and the Roman road of Burejo, which also left from Pisoraca and crossed the Cantabrian mountain range through this pass.[4] The valley formed by the river Bullón serves as a natural pass through the mountains, and a large part of the route runs parallel to it. Some studies maintain that this pass was used by one of the three columns of the Roman Empire that carried out the definitive campaign against the Cantabri, proof of which is the siege at the head of La Valdavia of Castro de la Loma.[5]
Location
[edit]From south to north, although the ascent itself does not begin until a few km. further on, it is usually considered to begin in Cervera de Pisuerga (Palencia), at 1005 m a.s.l. along the CL-627 road, reaching its maximum altitude at 1390 m a.s.l., exactly at point 43°02′45″N 4°27′05″W, and ends a few km. before the Cantabrian village of Potes, at 291 m a.s.l., after covering 56.2 km.[4][6]
Description of the route
[edit]Of the 40.8 km of the pass itself, 15.3 km are on the Palencia side and 25.5 km on the Cantabrian side. It starts, from S to N, in San Salvador de Cantamuda, at 1100 m above sea level, crossing the Palencia towns of Areños, Camasobres and Piedrasluengas,[7][8] and the Cantabrian towns of Valdeprado, Pesaguero, Puente Asnil, Cabezón de Liébana and Frama, to reach Ojedo, at 300 m above sea level[9]. The Palencia part of the route has a difference in altitude of 290 m and the Cantabrian part a difference in altitude of 1090 m. The top of the pass is in the province of Palencia, a few kilometres from the provincial border.[10][11]
Characteristics
[edit]
- The Piedrasluengas pass is, together with the Cantabria-Meseta motorway, the most important road crossing between Cantabria and Palencia, which, despite being two neighbouring provinces, are divided by the Cantabrian mountain range.
- The fact that it crosses the Cantabrian mountain range (it is located within the Montaña Palentina Natural Park) means that this pass has significant views; next to the village of the same name (the village of Piedrasluengas is the most northerly in the province of Palencia) there is a wooden viewpoint from which to appreciate the nearby peaks: Peña Labra, Cuchillón and Pico Tres Mares, and the whole of the Liébana Valley.[12]
- The pastures next to the pass are home to the Piedrasluengas blue viburnum, a plant included in the Catalogue of Threatened Flora, and which is endemic to the area.[13]
- Preserved beech forests in Cantabria.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Mirador de Piedrasluengas. Comarca: Montaña Palentina" [Viewpoint of Piedrasluengas. Comarca: Montaña Palentina]. Terranostrum (in Spanish). Turismo: Castilla y León.
- ^ "Puerto de Piedrasluengas" [Pass of Piedrasluengas]. Pateando España (in Spanish).
- ^ "Piedrasluengas". La Pernía (in Spanish).
- ^ a b As reported in a document of Santo Toribio de Liébana from 959: ‘... via qui discurrit a Pautes (Potes)’, and another dated 1001, ‘...sobre via qui discurrit a Bannes...’ (Sánchez Belda, Luis (1948). Cartulario de Santo Toribio de Liébana [Cartulary of Saint Toribio of Liébana] (in Spanish). Madrid:CSIC: docs. 57 and 79). Once they had visited the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana, in the late Middle Ages, Santo Toribio also had the option of heading towards León via the Riaño access road. Reference made in Menéndez-Bueyes, Luis R.; Argüelles Álvarez, Patricia A.; Mateos Cachorro, Ana; Rodríguez Méndez, Jesús (2020). "La ocupación tardoantigua de la cueva de guantes (Palencia): contexto y materiales" [Late Antiquity Occupation of the Cave of Guantes (Palencia): Context and Materials]. Arqueología y Territorio Medieval (in Spanish). 27: 157–192. doi:10.17561/aytm.v27.5418. ISSN 1134-3184.
- ^ Martínez Pereda, María José (1989). "Penetración romana en los Picos de Europa" [Roman Penetration in Picos de Europa]. Publicaciones de la Institución Tello Téllez de Meneses (in Spanish) (60): 15–66. ISSN 0210-7317.
- ^ Menéndez-Bueyes, Luis R.; Argüelles Álvarez, Patricia A.; Mateos Cachorro, Ana; Rodríguez Méndez, Jesús (2020). "La ocupación tardoantigua de la cueva de guantes (Palencia): contexto y materiales" [Late Antiquity Occupation of the Cave of Guantes (Palencia): Context and Materials]. Arqueología y Territorio Medieval (in Spanish). 27: 157–192. doi:10.17561/aytm.v27.5418. ISSN 1134-3184.
En este punto es donde confluía con la citada vía a Potes y el Cantábrico que tomaba origen en Pisoraca y Cervera de Pisuerga.
[At this point is where it converges with the aforementioned road to Potes and the Cantabrian Sea, which originates in Pisoraca and Cervera de Pisuerga.] - ^ Martín Merino, Germán (2014). La geología del área del Pisuerga (sureste de la zona Cantábrica): estratigrafía y evolución tecnosedimentaria de cuencas transportadas (Piggy-Back) Pensilvánicas [Geology of the Pisuerga Area (Southeast of the Cantabrian Area): Stratigraphy and Techno-sedimentary Evolution of Pennsylvanian Piggy-Back Basins] (in Spanish). Universidad de Salamanca. p. 47.
- ^ Delgado Ubeda, José (1932). "Medios de acceso" [Means of access]. El Parque Nacional de la Montaña de Covadonga [Montaña de Covadonga National Park] (PDF) (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Industria y Comercio, Comisaria de Parques Nacionales. p. 63.
- ^ Pereda De la Reguera, Manuel (1972). Liébana y Picos de Europa [Liébana and Picos de Europa] (PDF) (in Spanish). Institución Cultural de Cantabria.
- ^ "Mapa de la ruta castellana" [Map of the Ruta Castellana] (PDF). Municipio de Pesaguero (in Spanish).
- ^ Toté (2022). "Tocando el cielo en el puerto de Piedrasluengas" [Touching the Sky in the Pass of Piedrasluengas]. Elcomic (in Spanish).
- ^ Bardasco, José Antonio. "Peña Labra". RecorrePicos (in Spanish).
- ^ Aru, Barbara; de Paz Canuria, Elena; Ruiz de Gopegui, J. Antonio; Alonso Redondo, Raquel; García González, Marta Eva. Fichas Catálogo de Flora Protegida en Castilla y León: Echium cantabricum [File Catalogue of Protected Flora in Castilla y León: Echium Cantabricum] (PDF) (in Spanish). Junta de Castilla y León. Universidad de León. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2013.
- ^ García, Fermin (2019-11-08). "A través de un inmenso hayedo por Pesaguero" [Through an Immense Beech Forest Through Pesaguero]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish).