We took a break from walking to take the students north to Asturias. We left León and headed to Oviedo. In Oviedo we visited two pre-Romanesque (9th century) constructions: Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo. Santa María del Naranco once served as a public building, then a palace and finally as a church.
Santa María del Naranco has a beautifully elaborated barrel-vaulted ceiling. The medallions on the walls were heavily influenced by Muslim motifs (below).
The capitals are decorated (like the columns) with a braided design. Here you see the representation of figures (some are monks and other soldiers). On the front you will see representations of lions and horses. Much of what is found there has not been fully deciphered.
There are two balconies (one at each end of the palace). The capitals on the columns may be "espolio" from earlier Roman constructions in the area.
San Miguel de Lillo is a beautiful church only a few yards up the road from Santa María del Naranco. Unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph any of the interior. The current construction is smaller than its original version. The red brickwork around the current building shows what the original dimensions were.
From Oviedo we went to Cangas de Onís to spend the night. Shortly after arriving we caught a large shuttle bus to take us to the Picos de Europa and the Lagos de Enol. The trip takes you along a narrow, winding road to an altitude of around 8000 feet above sea level. Below are some of the vistas we we climbed to the lakes.
(the principal industries in the area are cattle and sheep. The sheep produce merino wool and the milk from the cattle is used to make cheeses that are particular to the region.)
The lakes are spectacular! There are two of them. We were let off the bus on one side of a large hill (called El Mirador). The first one (below) is amazing...
... but the second one is spectacular (below)
(note: the lake is beautiful but not one that you would want to swim in!!! There are a lot of cattle in the area (if you get my drift).
Near the lakes are some old Roman iron ore mines. You can hike down into them and see where even in modern times ore was extracted. Pretty cool.
On June 2 we left Congas de Onís to visit some prehistoric caves (Cuevas del Castillo and de las Monedas). Again, pictures were not allowed in the caves (https://cuevas.culturadecantabria.com/el-castillo-2/). We also visited the Neocave of Altamira. Altamira is one of the most famous of prehistoric caves. However, because of the deterioration brought about by human contact, this replica was created. It is really interesting. Here are some photos:
After visiting the caves we took the students to Santillana del Mar to drop off their luggage and then took them down to the beach at Tagle:
The next day we visited the Colegiata de Santa Juliana in Santillana del Mar. One the way to the colegiata Jannette took advantage of the early morning to take pictures of the old sector of the town. It is one of those places where you go for the atmosphere.
The Colegiata (Romanesque, 12th century) was truly amazing. For me it was architectural eye candy.
It is a wonderful little jewel, especially its cloister.
The capitals on the columns were striking and absolutely amazing. Here are some examples:
We returned to Leon that afternoon. Jannette, Lizzy and I all headed immediately to the Basilica de San Isidoro. San Isidoro is a major Catholic figure being included with San Justiniano, San Agustin, and San Jerónimo as the Fathers of the Church. Housed in this Basilica are believed to be the remains of San Isidoro (in the silver cask)
I love to learn about traditions. They tell you so much about how and why people believe. When we were there a small group of congregants were there. The average age of those there was probably about 70. Religion is losing its importance among the younger and a lot of apathy among most adults. A sad state of affairs.
On Sunday, June 4, we attended the branch meeting. We about doubled the number of attendees. The branch president was so delightful and welcoming as were all the members. It was a great day!
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