Puentedey (Burgos) (1)

Did you know that... Puentedey

It is located on the northern slope of Burgos. Surrounded by mountains, to the south of Canales del Dulla, it forms part, along with fourteen other villages, of the municipal district of Merindad de Valdeporres. Some historian from the Roman period makes the road leading to Ciguenza pass through Puentedey, but there is no evidence of this. In the Middle Ages the town was walled, as a defence in the medieval wars. Also in this period, year 1351, Puentedey belonged to the Merindad of Aguilar de Campoo, according to writings written in the Courts of Valladolid on the occasion of the request of the nobility that the behetries disappeared in favor of becoming stately and ancestral lands. In the eighteenth century is named as a place, within the Board of Puentedey, its jurisdiction was of lordship, being the gentleman who appointed a pedestrian mayor. It was the capital of this Board, which also included Brizuela and Quintanabaldo, met in "La Cueva del Santo", a place that was used as a town hall and civil registry. The Junta ended up disappearing as such at the end of the 19th century and in 1928 Puentedey became part of the Merindad de Valdeporres.

To discover What to see in Puentedey?

Puentedey, set in a beautiful landscape bathed by the river Nela, surprises those who approach it with its large natural bridge, a true work of engineering that the river Nela has been commissioned to carve and is one of the best-known images of the province of Burgos. It is undoubtedly curious that part of the village is built on the bridge. Its town centre shows a beautiful traditional and popular architecture, where the bread ovens or the horseshoeing colt make their place among the buildings palatial such as the palace house known by the Porras family although it was built by the Fernández de Brizuela family in the 15th century; the wall, built during the Middle Ages, or the parish church of San Pelayo, whose oldest remains date from the 11th century. In it a relief that adorns the tympanum of its front shows a character fighting with a large snake. On the other side of the bridge, the Saint's Cave and the door of the wind or ventero, which is a door of an old building open to the void, can also arouse the visitor's curiosity. This door was opened when the farmers came to the threshing floor to throw the straw out of the grain, as opening it created enough airflow to do the job. Puentedey is one of those enchanting places and in its surroundings, in addition, outdoor activities are guaranteed, hiking, fishing, canoeing, caving ...

Festivities

Puentedey celebrates the festivity of its patron saint, San Pelayo, on 26 June.

Traditions

Puentedey, a village with a deep-rooted tradition of bell-ringers, celebrates a fiesta with an indisputable popular flavour on the last weekend of August. The feast of the Cucaña, which was born about 90 years ago. On the banks of the Nela, just under the bridge, is placed a cucaña and at the peak a flag, the cucaña is placed as an improvised catwalk over the river, the participants have to walk on it and whoever gets, without falling, take the flag is the winner of the celebration.

Curiosities

The great natural stone arch formed by the river Nela more than 85 million years ago and that the ancient settlers saw in it the divine creation, the "bridge of God", keeps in the rocks of its hollow all a spectacle of colors; depending on the hour, dawn or twilight, or perhaps at midday, and the season of the year... the light that affects them brushstroke with a range of different tonalities.

The Legend

Local people say that a hole of considerable size in one of the walls of the bridge is actually a natural passageway that leads to another hollow above the "Cueva del Santo" (Saint's Cave) and that it continues to the nearby fortress palace, known as the Porras tower, built by the Fernández de Brizuela family in the 15th century. This passageway was used by the lords of the palace to supply water and food to the inhabitants inside the wall when the town was besieged in the usual medieval wars.

OTHER PLANS AND EXCURSIONS IN BURGOS

​

SOME ROUTES BY PUENTEDEY AND SURROUNDINGS

MORE ROUTES AVAILABLE, DON'T MISS IT...

​

MORE PLACES TO VISIT IN BURGOS

MORE PLACES AVAILABLE, DON'T MISS IT...

​

OTHER CHARMING VILLAGES OF BURGOS