MUÑIGO - COVADONGA€¦ · The Muñigo – Covadonga Nature Trail is located some 7 ki - lometres away from Cangas de Onís, capital of the town named like it, located in the Eastern

Page 1

SECTO

RN

OR

THW

ESTERN

PEN

INSU

LAR

Sinc

e 19

93 t

he M

inis

try

for

Agr

icul

ture

, Fo

od a

nd t

he

Envi

ronm

ent’s

Nat

ure

Trai

ls P

rogr

am a

ims

to r

esto

re f

or-

mer

tra

nspo

rt in

fras

truc

ture

s su

ch a

s ra

ilway

tra

cks,

catt

le

trai

ls a

nd tr

aditi

onal

rout

es, f

or p

ublic

use

and

enj

oym

ent.

Thes

e ro

utes

take

us

to th

e co

untr

ysid

e to

dis

cove

r the

bio

-di

vers

ity a

nd b

eaut

y of

our

pre

ciou

s na

tura

l her

itage

, and

di

scov

er t

he v

illag

es, s

ight

s, tr

aditi

ons

and

peop

le t

hat

are

part

of t

he u

niqu

e cu

ltura

l lan

dsca

pe o

f our

cou

ntry

.

We

invi

te y

ou to

vis

it th

em a

nd o

ffer y

ou th

e ke

ys to

enj

oy

the

trip

. In

this

bro

chur

e yo

u w

ill fi

nd a

brie

f des

crip

tion

of

the

Muñ

igo

- Cov

adon

ga N

atur

e Tr

ail a

nd t

he m

ap fo

r th

e jo

urne

y, al

ong

with

reco

mm

enda

tions

to m

ake

the

mos

t of

this

exp

erie

nce.

We

only

ask

one

thi

ng o

f yo

u: d

o no

t fo

r-ge

t to

leav

e ev

eryt

hing

as

you

foun

d it.

The

con

serv

atio

n of

th

ese

path

way

s is

als

o yo

ur re

spon

sibi

lity.

NAT

URE

TRA

ILM

UÑ

IGO

-C

OV

AD

ON

GA

The

Muñ

igo

– C

ovad

onga

Nat

ure

Trai

l is

loca

ted

som

e 7

ki-

lom

etre

s aw

ay f

rom

Can

gas

de O

nís,

capi

tal o

f th

e to

wn

nam

ed li

ke it

, loc

ated

in th

e Ea

ster

n pa

rt o

f the

Prin

cipa

lity

of A

stur

ias.

It is

app

roxi

mat

ely

1.5 k

ilom

etre

s lo

ng, a

nd i

t ru

ns a

long

the

ent

ranc

e of

the

Pic

os d

e Eu

ropa

Nat

iona

l Pa

rk u

ntil

the

Real

Siti

o de

Cov

adon

ga t

hrou

gh a

ped

es-

tria

n pa

th.

The

hist

ory

of th

is p

rote

cted

are

a st

arte

d on

22n

d Ju

ly 19

18,

whe

n th

e ea

ster

n pa

rt o

f thi

s m

ount

ain

rang

e w

as d

ecla

red

Mon

taña

de

Cov

adon

ga N

atio

nal P

ark.

Som

e de

cade

s la

ter,

the

prot

ecte

d ar

ea w

as e

xten

ded

to 6

4,66

0 he

ctar

es a

nd it

w

as d

ecla

red

Pico

s de

Eur

opa

Nat

iona

l Par

k. L

astly

, in

2003

, U

NES

CO a

ppro

ved

its B

iosp

here

Res

erve

sta

tus.

TELE

PH

ON

ES O

F IN

TER

EST:

• N

atio

nal P

ark

Info

rmat

ion

(Cas

a D

ago)

:

00

34 9

85 8

4 86

14•

Can

gas

de O

nís

Cit

y C

ounc

il:

0034

985

84

80 4

3•

Pico

s de

Eur

opa

Nat

iona

l Par

k:

00

34 9

85 2

4 14

12/

(cen

tral

offi

ces)

0

034

985

25 5

3 76

NIPO: DL:

Muñ

igo

to C

ovad

onga

[G

alic

ia]

THR

OU

GH

TH

E H

EAR

T O

F TH

E P

ICO

S D

E EU

RO

PA N

ATI

ON

AL

PAR

K

1. This nature trail starts shortly before reaching the “Las Llerices” parking, located on the A

S-262 road, between

the last two houses at the edge of M

uñigo. Going to the

right from the road, the trail starts clim

bing up a ladder covered in broom

and gorse, and continues afterwards

on flat ground until it plunges into a great chestnut, birch and m

aple trees forest. .

2. To the left of the route, the traveller can see the C

ruz the Priena, an uneven prom

ontory taller than 700 m

etres high. It is a privileged observatory, with diffi

-cult access, from

where you can enjoy the view

of the sea, the Sueve m

ountain range, Arriondas, C

angas, C

ovadonga, the Lagos road, and also the highest peaks of these valleys.

3. Leaving the forest behind, the trail becom

es a slight slo-pe w

hich runs along a traditional stable and a field, where

it is more com

mon to find beech trees. Step by step, the

trail goes deeper into the Picos de Europa National Park,

and the Monastery of San Pedro and the tow

ers of the Basilica of Santa M

aría la Real can be seen through the trees.

4.

The route ends at the Eastern part of the Covadonga M

onumental G

roup, located in an exceptionally beauti-ful setting.e the landscape of this natural environm

ent.

NATU

RE TRAIL

MU

ÑIG

O - C

OV

AD

ON

GA

Field mapple

Cham

ois (Rupicabra rupicabra)Basilica of Santa M

aría la Real

SEC

TOR

NO

RTH

WES

TER

N P

ENIN

SULA

R

Obelisk built in 1857 by the dukes of M

ontpensier in the so-called “El Repelao”, has the replica of the C

ruz de la Victoria and, according to tradition, it rem

inds where

Don Pelayo w

as crowned.

PIC

OS D

E EUR

OPA

NA

TION

AL PA

RK

Located in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, shared by A

sturias, Cantabria and León, the Picos de

Europa Natural Park is found in the biggest lim

estone form

ation in the European Atlantic coastline, and it is

part of the Cantabrian M

ountains.The karstic processes of its geology have created an im

pressive landscape filled with gorges, caves and

abysses more than 1,000 m

etres high. The Covadonga

lakes, Enol and Ercina, were caused by the great gla-

cial erosion suffered by the summ

its of the Macizo de

Cm

ión (also known as W

estern Massif).

The ecosystems related to the A

tlantic forest are hom

e to more than one hundred species of birds,

among w

hich the black woodpecker and the threa-

tened Cantabrian capercaillie are w

orth mentioning.

You can find evasive species like chamois in the cliffs,

whereas roe deer and w

olves are comm

on in the plen-tiful forests of the area. O

ne exceptional inhabitant of this park is the brow

n bear, protected species for w

hich there is a recovery plan in force. In the park and its environm

ent you can find great birds of prey, such as the griffon vulture and golden eagle.

Gui

de t

o th

eNa

ture

Tr

ails

of S

pain

REA

L SITIO D

E CO

VA

DO

NG

A

Covadonga is a parish in the town of C

angas de Onís,

integrated into the protected area of the Picos de Euro-pa N

ational Park. It is home to a sanctuary erected in

honour of the Virgin, comm

emorating the defeat of the

Muslim

troops in the Battle of Covadonga in year 722. In the interior of this m

onumental group, the m

ost visi-ted w

ithin the Principality of Asturias, it is w

orth men-

tioning the “Santa Cueva”, w

here, according to tradi-tion, the C

hristian army took shelter during the battles

that started the Reconquista. It is currently home to the

chapel where the im

age of the Virgin of Covadonga is located, know

n as the “Santina”, and also the grave of D

on Pelayo.A

nother monum

ent that must be visited is the Basilica

of Santa María La Real, designed by Roberto Frassinelli

and erected by the architect Federico Aparici, betw

een 1877 and 1901. It is purely N

eo-Romanesque style w

ith pink lim

estone. On the Basilica’s terrace, next to the

Monastery of San Pedro, you can find the C

hapter Hou-

se and the bronze statue of Don Pelayo, constructed in

1964 by the sculptor Eduardo Zaragoza.W

orth mentioning about this group is the big bell w

hich is three m

etres high and weighs 4,000 kilogram

s, “La cam

panona”, built in 1900 in La Felguera by the Italian sculpture Sortini. This piece of art, donated by the cou-nt Sizzo-N

orice and Luis Góm

ez Herrero w

on the first prize at the U

niversal Exhibition in Paris. Moreover, the

Page 2

Starting point

End of trail

Religious building

NATURE TRAILMUÑIGO -

COVADONGA

3

4

1

town point of interest

Parking Las Llerices

MIDE

Upward gradient

Downward gradient

ROUTE LENGTH

TIME

Harshness of natural environment

Guidance along the route

Route difficulty

Amount of effort needed

1111

90 m0 m

1,6 km30 min

1,61,510,50 km

200

500

50

100

150

250

0m

CovadongaMuñigo

SECTORNORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR

NatureTrails

2

Monument