Doriga (Principado de Asturias) (0)

Did you know that... Doriga

And the other villages, all of them crossed by the Primitive Way, such as San Marcelo, La Reaz or Casas del Puente, also called La Ponte, among others, of the parish of Santa Eulalia de Las Dorigas, of which they form part and within the council of Salas, are located to the right of the river Narcea, in the east of the council of Salas, in a valley forged by El Regueiru Doriga, affluent of the Narcea, between rocky and sloping hills. The origins of Doriga are lost in ancient times. Archaeological remains of small closed population centres, the castros, are present in the area. The Altu el Castiellu, of Doriga, testifies to this. Many of these castros prolonged their existence until the Early Middle Ages, living even in Roman times with their typical villas, whose presence is also witnessed in the place of Las Murias, Doriga.

A little more history

La Ponte witnessed in 840 the battle in which Ramiro, supported by Galician nobles, defeated the troops of Nepociano, who ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Asturias and occupied it for a short time due to quarrels and rivalries caused by the succession after the death of Alfonso II El Casto. The Middle Ages brought with it the establishment and increase of monastic institutions, such as the Monastery of Santa Eulalia del Narcea, which came to be situated in the same place as the aforementioned Roman villa, remaining until the end of the 18th century at the beginning of the 19th century. The Modern Age unites the power of the monastic foundations with the growing renown of the lords of the House of Doriga, who assert their influence in many positions of the territorial administration. In 1804 the parishes of San Antolín de las Dorigas, San Esteban de las Dorigas, San Justo de las Dorigas and Santa Eulalia de las Dorigas, which formed part of Grado, became part of the council of Salas.

What to see in Doriga, San Marcelo, La Reaz and Casas del Puente?

It will be a pleasure for the senses to walk among green meadows covered with fruit trees, to cross shady slopes covered with chestnut trees, and surrounded by such a beautiful landscape to discover small enclaves that come to the visitor's step when crossing villages such as San Marcelo with its beautiful chapel, in which the carving it keeps of San Roque Peregrino testifies its relation with the pilgrimage to Santiago on the Primitive Way. In La Reaz we will see the ruins of what used to be El Molín de La Reaz, where, between moss and ferns, its gabled roof and eye, güeyu, through which the water came out after moving the millstone; or its curious two-pipe fountain, La Fonte de La Reaz, which was built in 1903. To arrive at Doriga, which hides among its sample of civil architecture the parish church dedicated to Santa Eulalia, although nowadays it is of neoclassical style it keeps from its primitive Romanesque origin a doorway to one side and a semicircular arch. The church has an inlaid slab with the inscription of the year in which it was consecrated and the name of the bishop who sacralized it, which says so. It was consecrated by bishop Pelayo in the XIII kalendas of the Milesima CLVII era.

To discover

On the floor of the presbytery there is a tombstone with the coat of arms of the Doriga whose palace is located very close to the church and from which you can already see its walls and breadbaskets. The Doriga Palace was started by this family in the 14th century. At first the tower was built and around it was built the palace, all surrounded by a beautiful park, which today houses centuries-old trees. The entrance door is a semicircular arch guarded by two side towers with the coats of arms of García de Doriga and his wife. In Casas del Puente you have to discover what remains of the historic old bridge, La Ponte del Narcea or La Ponte Vieya, very possibly of Roman origin, which gives its name to the place and which was swept away by a great flood in the sixteenth century and replaced, from the year 1580 by the Barquería de Santiago, in its work to save the bed of the Narcea and continue on the way to the monastery of San Salvador.

Festivities

In Doriga, as in the whole council, the patron saint's festivities are at the end of August. In the village of San Marcelo its patron saint is celebrated on the first Sunday of August.

Traditions

The story goes that the tower of the palace of Doriga was one of the few that the Catholic Monarchs did not order to be demolished in order to prevent noble rebellions.

Curiosities

The Cortín or curtín were constructions that were erected not long ago to protect the bees, their honey and their wax, from the big greedy children, the bears, who live in the mountains and forests of much of Asturias. Some of them are still in use and if not, in what remains of them you can see that they were enclosures of high stone walls in which were placed the hives that according to the zone were called truébanos, trobos, caxellos, cubos... and that for general rule were made with the hollowed trunk of a tree.

The Legend

Legend has it that the lords of the palace of La Doriga had a little girl who one day, playing, got lost in the nearby woods. Her parents went looking for her for days and days and when they were about to lose all hope, the little creature appeared healthy and saved all of it thanks to a bear that had acted as an adoptive mother taking care of her, protecting her and breastfeeding her. The lords of Doriga, in gratitude for this event considered almost miraculous, ordered the construction of the monastery of Cornellana and in it the Door of the Osa.