Grandas de Salime (Principado de Asturias) (0)

Did you know that... Grandas de Salime

It is a town and capital of the parish of the same name belonging to the council of the same name, which located in the western interior of the Principality of Asturias is crossed by the Sierra del Acebo. Grandas de Salime and Vistalegre are located in a sloping valley that opens towards the river Navia that gives the area an extraordinary beauty. Although the origin of its history is lost in time, even before Roman times, Grandas de Salime grew on the edge of the Camín Real that connects Asturias and Galicia, the Primitive Way to Santiago, with a historic pilgrim hospital and a church, that of San Salvador, closely related to the Primitive Way of Saint James. The first written reference to this temple dates back to 1186 when King Ferdinand II of León, in order to cut off the influence and power of other nearby monasteries, donated the lands of San Salvador de Granda to the diocese of Oviedo. Today it continues to be a true crossroads in the Galician-Asturian inland communication, with an exit also towards the coast. The most recent historical news of Grandas de Salime is the pharaonic construction of its reservoir, which was inaugurated in the middle of the 20th century and caused an entire valley with its estates, villages, churches and cemeteries to succumb under its waters; Asturian and Galician territories that have become a true fluvial sea guarded by abrupt and green slopes. The village of Vistalegre was built to house the most qualified staff of this titanic company, that is to say, administrative staff, works managers, architects, engineers...

To discover What to see in Grandas de Salime?

In Grandas de Salime, in addition to enjoying its natural and scenic surroundings, of unquestionable harmony and beauty, and after having visited the Central de Salime in which the turbine room is decorated with paintings by Joaquín Vaquero Turcios that relate the entire construction of the dam, or perhaps to have sailed the 30 kilometres of route that the reservoir has, and after entering through the rock drilled in the mouth of the whale, which is an impressive viewpoint to the abyss over the dam, the traveller will be submerged in the life and customs of these areas if he visits the Ethnographic Museum created in 1986 and that occupies the building of the rectoral house, typical rural construction of the zone of the century XIX. It is a museum that combines what is merely an exhibition with a live and direct display of the traditional life of the council and the region in general. The town is also notable for its large houses, such as the 18th century Manor House of Roman which has three monolithic stones with slate roofs on the door of its chapel dedicated to the Immaculada, under the belfry; on the outskirts of Grandas, in the middle of the Jacobean route, the chapel of El Carmen It is part of the House Linera complex, whose origin is possibly from the 17th century. But the villa keeps a real jewel among its houses, the old collegiate church of San Salvador, a building of Romanesque origin; completely reformed between the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows the different architectural styles of its reforms, Gothic, Neoclassical, Baroque and popular, today is the parish church and is dedicated to San Lorenzo and San Salvador, the entire temple is surrounded by a portico that was added in the nineteenth century. From its origin it conserves a Romanesque door of the XII century, the holy water fountain and some old canecillos. Grandas also offers a pleasure for the sense of taste if this visit is completed by checking the goodness of its precious gastronomy.

Festivities

In Grandas de Salime is celebrated the 2nd and 3rd of July to Nuestra Señora del Carmen. In August the last Sunday of the month is the feast of the Sardine and the patron saint festivities in honour of El Salvador are celebrated on the first weekend in August.

Traditions

In Upper Navia there is a traditional technique for making cheese and in Grandas, these cheeses produced in this way are called "of the Oscos".

Curiosities

The Toural Municipal Park, also known as the Prince of Asturias Municipal Park, is home to horse chestnut, bananas, aligustres, maples, beeches and ashes, some of these species brought from faraway lands. The park, located in the centre of the council of Grandas de Salime, stands out for its beauty and well-kept landscape value.

The Legend

Etymologically it seems that the denomination Grandas or Gandaras, after the phonetic changes that have taken place since the Middle Ages, derives from the Portuguese and its meaning is that of sterile land.