Ruta de los Palacios

Go to Image The Palaces Route
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The Palaces Route
GPS: 43.36239996036954, -5.510698208120156

Nava - Lieres - Torre de los Vigil - Palacio de Meres - Granda - Colloto

Nava - Colloto 32,71

This route, eminently cycle-cultural, invites you to get to know an interesting part of the palatial architecture in the area of Siero.

This cycling tour is linear, starting and finishing at different points, and is recommended for children and novice cyclists. It runs along secondary roads and is suitable for all types of bicycles. The route is a more or less constant "up and down" but pleasant to pedal, except in some sections, such as the entrance to Santa Eulalia de Vigil, which is no more than 500 metres long.

This route, which is eminently cycle-cultural, invites you to get to know an interesting part of the palatial architecture in the area of Siero. Unfortunately, as they are all private buildings, they can only be visited from the outside.

The route begins in the town of Nava, capital of the council and with a great cider-making tradition, from where it is necessary to head towards Llames, Villamartín and El Remedio. From the latter village, continue along a local road to Lieres and Feleches, both great places for refreshments before beginning the cultural visits.

From Feleches head to Aramil de los Caballeros, where you can visit the church of San Esteban de Aramil. It is a Romanesque church in which four elements stand out in the sculptural ornamentation: the main door, the door on the south façade, the apse with a two-column window and the wall on the north side, which is the simplest. Under the apse roof there is a very elaborate cornice with very different motifs: a minstrel playing a stringed instrument, another character doing a somersault, with an erotic theme, zoomorphic figures (heads of felines, snakes, heads of monstrous animals...) and plant figures such as palm trees and fleur-de-lis.

The route continues. Take the local road SI-10 to the village of Vigil, where, as soon as you pass it, you can see the tower of the Vigil family, a construction linked to the estate of the Vigil Quiñones family that symbolises the power the family exercised over the lands in the area. It is a building dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries and consists of a large square tower with a low section added to the east.

The route continues along local roads, this time in the direction of Tiroco de Arriba. In this town is the palace of the Marqués de la Vega or Tiroco de Arriba. This manor house-palace is a noble construction with a coat of arms, a restored chapel for private use, a granary and a very large estate enclosed by a stone wall. Next to it there is a small recreational area where you can rest and observe a sculpture attached to the wall with the singular inscription: "Ocurrencia que me dio Dios y que pongo al servicio del pueblo".

Once again, we must continue along local roads (sharing several stretches with the Camino de Santiago), passing through villages such as Gijún or Carbajal, until we reach Fonciellu, where the Fonciellu mill-house is located.

Shortly afterwards it is possible to recharge your batteries at the Sanctuary of the Ermita de la Virgen de la Cabeza, on the banks of the river Nora. However, the refreshments will be what you bring with you, as there is no bar or shop nearby and no fountain, but you will enjoy the beautiful scenery, if the weather is good.

The next stop is the Meres mill, which is in a very acceptable state of conservation and where we can take some nice snapshots.

It is time to continue our route, this time towards the Meres Palace, the last visit of this excursion. The Meres Palace complex is made up of the palace and an adjoining chapel called the chapel of Santa Ana, which is reached after passing through a small oak forest. The exterior, some of the rooms of the palace and the chapel have been the scene of film shoots, and have appeared in several films directed by José Luis Garci (El abuelo, You're the One, Historia de un beso...).

Once the visit is over, all that remains is to cross Granda and reach Colloto, the end point of today's route.