Peñaflor (Principado de Asturias) (0)

Did you know that... Peñaflor

It is a town in the parish of the same name belonging to the council of Grado, located in the northern area of the municipality, on the banks of the river Nalón that opens up between the Peña del Aire and the Peña del Viso, and crossed by the Primitive Way. Peñaflor is of very old origin, there was a time when it was known by the name of Villaflor and Santo Dolfo de Peñaflor. Its most important historical episodes have been marked by its strategic location and its famous bridge, which has written references since the twelfth century when it was built by King Alfonso VII and his wife Berenguela, and in a place close to him was built, by the same mandate, a pilgrims' hospital. By order of this same king, Peñaflor belonged to the diocese of Oviedo until in the sixteenth century, with the reign of Philip II, became the property of the Jove Dasmarinas, the Casona la Campona, house that centuries later, during the French, became the barracks of the invading troops. Peñaflor was integrated into the municipality of Grado in 1827. The bridge and the place itself, apart from being a nexus of union between counties, has been an important objective in disputes and battles, both during the Napoleonic invasion and in the Carlist War or the Spanish Civil War, already in the twentieth century. But many centuries before, in the 8th century, it was a place of passage for the Muslim hordes. The hospital, part of the bridge and several houses in the village were destroyed by a large flood in 1586. It is known that there were two chapels located at the ends of the bridge, but they were already demolished in the mid-nineteenth century.

To discover What to see in Peñaflor?

Undoubtedly the best known and perhaps most important thing about Peñaflor is its bridge over the Nalón River, a Romanesque from the 12th century. The reconstructions it has undergone in order to repair the damage caused by the waters of the Nalón several times, as well as to enable the passage of the railway, have given it an attractive, picturesque and timeless image. It is said that it was built in this place when one upstream, in La Carril, was destroyed. The parish church of San Xuan de Peñaflor, of rural Romanesque style and reformed several times during the XVIII and XIX centuries, conserves from its primitive origin the arch of the cover and the one of the interior, capitals with animal figures, as well as some canecillo. Within this elongated village crossed by the Primitive Way, you can admire the house of the Bishop which has an ecclesiastical coat of arms and was the old Town Hall. Hórreos and paneras also attract the attention of those who visit this beautiful and well-kept village of Peñaflor.

Festivities

Peñaflor celebrates the feast of the Blessed Sacrament on the first Sunday in August.

Traditions

Tradition has it, as well as Canon Tirso de Avilés, that in the year 1586 the rains made the Nalón river grow so much that in the place of Peñaflor the water entered through all the houses and many salmon and trout remained inside them and some pipas, barrels, with the wine, were swimming through the cellars and that some houses fell, and that even the river took a great rock that was practically immovable.

Curiosities

The hórreos, granary and pantry of the peasant families, today are symbols of an entire village. In Peñaflor, next to the road, there are three large breadbaskets where large harvests of corn were stored, in these constructions that are larger than the hórreos, the cobs or panoyas were stripped and strung up to hang from the corridors. But they were not only places for storing and preserving food, but they also danced to the sound of a bagpipe, an accordion or a tambourine.

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The Legend

It is said that in the early times, many centuries ago, a violent earth tremor broke the Sierra de la Peral, which acted as a dam to contain the rough ocean, and such was the cleavage that it formed the strait where Peñaflor is located and the waters of the sea advanced through it and flooded the Vega de Grado.