Idiomas

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Accesos directos

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Buscador

Buscar

Active Tourism

• On foot
• By mountainbike

Cuenca del Cadagua

Introduction

The main thread of the route is the river Cadagua, the principal water source crossing the valley west to east and whose waters, in other times, served the numerous mills and foundries built along its banks from its source in the village of Cadagua to El Berrón, the last village on the north west flank of the valley.

This route covers the whole upper basin of the river, from the administrative centre, Villasana, to the source of the river in the village that gives it its name, seeing along the way how the river has modelled the landscape and a varied vegetation to include riverside species such as elms, poplars and willows along with beech, holm oak, oak, holly and many more.

In the same way, the river has become the habitat and refuge of many animal species, most notably trout, amphibians, water snakes and herons.

Technical Specifications

A description of the route

On the outskirts of Villasana, heading towards Vallejo, take the dirt path which leads off from the road and is recognised by the markers of the GR-85. Continue on this path which comes out on the road through a housing estate.

After crossing the estate roundabout you will see the GR-85 signpost, red and white stripes, marking a small grassy footpath leading off to the right and running parallel to the river.After only a few metres on this path you meet and go under, via a bridge, the new Villasana by-pass before continuing on the same path to the right, frequently signposted with the GR-85 markers.

Continue on this path until you arrive at the entrance to the village of Vallejo, near the shrine of St Theresa, and bear right across the bridge over the river to where the only working mill in the valley is found. Continue on this road until finding a small turning to the left parallel to a canal.

Follow this track to the village of Villasuso, passing an old ironworks on the way. Once in Villasuso there are various paths to the right and left – continue straight on until reaching the first houses and then turn left down the first street which will take you to a small square with a fountain, just beside the asphalt road.

From here follow the road to the right, towards Paradores, and then at the end of the village take the left-hand fork, once again onto dirt track, which leads all the way to the village seen in the distance during the whole walk, Lezana.

In Lezana, turn right onto the asphalt road, and go uphill to the village square from where a street leads out of the village to the left, passing the old Lezana mill, and from there unerringly to the village of Cadagua on a path called Las Estorcas.

Topographical Map

Other points of interest

In Vallejo: -the Romanesque church San Lorenzo de Vallejo, built at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries and a thirteenth century working mill.

In Villasuso: -mansions from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, an ironworks from the early nineteenth century and a mill from the late eighteenth century.

In Lezana: -a late medieval tower, from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries built of worked stone and fortified by an enclosure that has cubic sentry boxes at the corners and small towers midway along its walls. The 20m tower is a solid construction with very few openings, and its defensive role is further strengthened by the presence of battlements and corner sentry boxes, examples of traditional architecture, mansions with coats of arms, Las Estorcas mill, from the late nineteenth century.

In Cadagua: -2 nineteenth century mills, an ‘Indiano Palace’ from the beginning of the twentieth century that has been converted into tourist accommodation, categorised as rural inn.

Special Events

OFICINA DE TURISMO VALLE DE MENA

• C/ Eladio Bustamente, s/n.
  09580 Villasana de Mena
• Tlf y fax:
  947 141 341

email:turismomena@valledemena.es