Stage 6: Berducedo - Grandas de Salime

Stage 6: Berducedo - Grandas de Salime 19.8 Kms

This 20.08 km stage runs through the municipalities of Allande, Grandas de Salime and, for a few metres, through Pesoz.

Half of the route is on tarmac, especially in the second half of the stage, while the rest is on dirt and gravel tracks.

The route starts in the village of Berducedo, arriving shortly after at the village of A Mesa, in the municipality of Grandas de Salime, after which the route begins on paths and dirt tracks, with a first steep climb just after passing this second village, and after leaving behind the small chapel of Buspol, the route enters the extensive natural area bordering the Grandas de Salime reservoir, the great scenic landmark of the stage.

For several kilometres the route passes through plantations of pine trees and other species, with spectacular views of the reservoir and the Grandas waterfall, which you will pass through after a long descent of about eight kilometres, at some points very intense, so much so that it became famous in the Middle Ages for its danger, with many legends and stories centred on this tough route, which had the Ponte de Salime (now under the waters of the reservoir) as one of its most significant elements. Once past the reservoir, there is a steep ascent of more than five kilometres to the capital of Grandas de Salime, the village of the same name, most of which runs along the hard shoulder of the AS-14.

This is a stage which hardly passes through any towns, except for those mentioned above, so that the landscape and the Grandas reservoir, under which lie the remains of the old town of Salime, dominate the route.

The villages of Berducedo, A Mesa, the hamlet of Buspol and the town of Grandas de Salime, maintain good examples of the architecture of south-western Asturias. The best examples of cultural heritage can be found in the churches of these towns, with the collegiate church of San Salvador de Grandas de Salime standing out at the end of the route. Before, you will pass through one of the most significant examples of the industrial heritage of Asturias, the Salime waterfall.

References to the passage of pilgrims along this route are abundant since the Middle Ages. In Buspol there is still a chapel linked to the old pilgrims' hospital, documented in modern times as a house-hostelry which had its roots in the Middle Ages, as did the one that existed in the village of Salime, now flooded by the reservoir. There was also a hospital in the town of Grandas, mentioned in 16th century documentation but undoubtedly of earlier foundation, located near the present-day ethnographic museum, at the entrance to the town, and its building is still preserved.