Castro (Principado de Asturias) (0)

Did you know that... Castro

And Cereijeira are two villages belonging to the parish of Grandas de Salime, and Peñafuente belongs to the parish of the same name through which the Primitive Way passes, the three are part of the council of Grandas de Salime. Castro is located in a more or less flat place, in a fertile area and at the highest point of its surroundings. Cereijeira on a very flat plateau next to the road. And the village of Peñafuente is located on the slope of Monte Zarro. The historical origin of Castro, Cereijeira and Peñafuente is lost at the dawn of time. Proof of this is the large number of tumular remains and other material remains such as bowls, human figures, polished and metallic axes, etc., found in the burial mounds of Chao de Cereixeira, as well as being evident throughout the territory of the council. The name of Cereixeira could curiously derive from being a place where cherries abounded. Castro, whose name speaks of the outstanding culture of the forts in this area, is mentioned in a cession document from the year 857 and although the veracity of this writing is doubtful if we know of population settlements of this time because in the old castro de Chao de San Martin, founded in the Bronze Age, burials were carried out between the VIII, IX and X centuries. In the 11th century, a village community in Castro with a certain metallurgical activity was already documented. It is known that in Peñafuente or its surroundings there was a hostelry, a hospital for pilgrims, the one in Cuiña, of which the Count of Altamira was the patron, and which was the last one existing before reaching Alto do Acevo.

To discover What to see in Castro, Cereijeira and Peñafuente?

Cereijeira offers the visitor a calm as only a purely rural landscape can do, fields of mowing and ferns, meadows and pasture land. In Castro a small chapel already gives an idea of the rural architecture, of stone and slate stonework, of its houses, in addition in the outskirts there is the castro or fortified enclosure of the Chao Samartín and the center of interpretation of the same one, where the form of life of the first settlers of the place can be discovered, from the Age of the Bronze, towards the year 800 before our era, up to century IV or V, when a Christian necropolis is documented. And if it is in Peñafuente where the traveller stops, you can see a curious rural sanctuary, the parish church of Santa María Magdalena, whose construction is documented in 1605 but its origin could have been earlier, was rebuilt in the nineteenth century because a strong storm devastated it. Its hexagonal apse attracts attention and inside the temple you can admire a polychrome altarpiece and a very curious confessional. Just in front of the church there is a fountain, with a covered laundry room, which reminds us of the elements that undoubtedly gave rise to the toponym Pena-fonte.

Festivities

Castro celebrates festivities in honour of Santa Bárbara at the beginning of September. The first weekend in July is in Peñafuente where San Antonio and Santa María Magdalena are celebrated at the end of July, also in Peñafuente.

Traditions

The Primitive Way to Santiago as it passed through Grandas used the old Roman road in which the castro of Chao San Martín played an important role as the regulating settlement of this road.

Curiosities

The church of Peñafuente has in its belfry two bronze bells with curious inscriptions, the one on the left reads "Mondoñedo / Blanco Palacio me hizo / Año 1838" and the one on the right has its dedication "Dedicated to San Antonio. Year 1858".

The Legend

There are assumptions that Castro had a place of worship dedicated to St. Martin, worship that is related to the Christianization of the cult of Mars existing in the ancient military cultures.