Quiviesa River

The valley of the Quiviesa River, from Potes to Puerto de San Glorio (click for the full map)

This valley, earlier known as Valle de Cereceda, today is officially named after the town of Vega de Liébana. The road along the river runs through 23 settlements and is an important link between the coastline Camino de Santiago and the Camino Francés.

The discovery of Cantabria 1. The Hungarian and his bear 2. In the valley of Liébana 3. “…but I’m not happy” 4. Deva River 5. Quiviesa River

Valmeo passes almost unnoticed at the beginning of the road. You have to cross the river by one of the two bridges, and only then it appears below, among dense vegetation due to the proximity of water. In this village stands the medieval house of the Colmenares family, which boasts of a number of famous preachers, sailors and diplomats, including the adventurous Don Manuel de Colmenares y Prellezo, who in 1823 revolted on the most conservative side to release Ferdinand VII of his constitutional obligations and to restore the traditional absolutism (to which, apart from Don Manuel, the intervention of the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis was also indispensable.) In Valmeo he issued a fiery proclamation, armed and captained a company of 1600 volunteers, fervently supported by the clergy of Liébana: now we know that it was the Prior of the Monastery of Santo Toribio who provided them with weapons and ammunition. The small medieval church of Valmeo has a 15th-century arched portal, framed by a rectangular row of carved stone beads. In most settlements of Liébana it is striking how few attention they pay to the aesthetic leading of telephone and electric cables on the facades of historic buildings, so that we completely feel at home.


Tudes. In the nearby Porcieda still you can see the rests of an ancient monastery dedicated to St. James. In this late afternoon all the inhabitants of Tudes, laying high on the hillside, were engaged in picking up the hay. It is a lively village with a charming tourist inn, which has well respected the traditional architecture, right next to the 16th-century church. As in almost everywhere in the valley, we found the church closed, so we could not see the two famous altarpieces from the 16th and 17th centuries.


Campollo and Maredes have grown together by now, but each has its own church. The abandoned one of Campollo still preserves various 16th to 18th-century carvings as well as a 18th-century nobleman’s throne with a carved back. There are also two very poor chapels nearby, one dedicated to Mary Magdalene and the other to St. Justa and St. Rufina. This latter is from 1573, according to an inscription inside. A graffiti in the churchyard of Campollo evokes a nearer past, when most Spanish churches ostentated the name of the Falangist José Antonio Primo de Rivera in their facades. A further proof that here the time flows more slowly than elsewhere.


Toranzo. On the opposite side of Campollo and Maredes, its church boasts of a medieval baptismal font and a 18th-century wooden statue of St. Anthony the Hermit. The year of foundation of the village is 961. As in many other settlements of the valley which take advantage of the power of the river, here once worked a smithy and a mill, now abandoned houses, shields over the doors, flowers, silence.


Bores. As it was to be expected, we did not meet the famous “girl of Bores” at whose sight the Marqués de Santillana (1398-1458) immediately fell in love, according to his renowned serranilla, nor any of her possible descendants. Bores, just as Campollo y Maredes, also has a neighborhood laying somewhat off the village, Campo, where the same Marqués de Santillana, that is Don Íñigo López de Mendoza built two towers separated by about fifty meters. They are still visible, but at the point of disappearing altogether. The pastors mentioned in the poem are still around, but fortunately none of them must earn his bread at such a young age as the one in the photo below, taken in the 1950s.



Enterrías. We wanted to visit this village by any means, because here was founded in the 13th century the Monastery of San Pedro de Montero. However, as we have seen, its only remains are the Pre-Romanesque lattice windows recently found. When we arrived, a group of workers were just restoring the Baroque Gómez de Enterría house. As we went nearer, the owner very kindly invited us to come in and to see the huge vaults on which it was built, as well as the 18th-century funiture, now covered by the dust of the works, while he was talking of the difficulties and costs (although partly subsidized) of maintaining a house like this. He even complained that “those of the Heritage” protest against the somewhat more modern isolation of the roof he built against the winter cold. An attractive traditional inn was also opened recently in the village, as well as an ethnographic collection in the Casa de las Doñas.


Dobarganes. We are at the height of a thousand meters. Here start a number of trails to the mountains, for example to the Pico Jano.

The result of a fox hunt in the upper valley several decades ago

These are the highest villages of the valley of Quiviesa. Before coming to Ledantes, we stop by the watchtower of Peñallana. A little further we reach Dobres. The road passes through several tunnels that link villages which lay very close to each other, but between which the communication had been almost impossible. In fact, the tunnels are quite modern. For example, they started to plan the road between Bárago to Dobres only in 1924, they began to build it in 1946, and it was not finished until 1967. The tunnels of Cucayo were began to drill in 1946 and were opened to traffic three years later. Cucayo (see below) lays now almost at the end of the road and from here you can look down on all the valley. Recently an inn was also opened here.


More above, before the road leaves the valley in the direction of León, at the height of 1609 meters stands the village of Puerto de San Glorio. Passing through it, we reach the ridge and reach the first village of León, Llánaves de la Reina. On this side of the mountain the vegetation is more sparse and the rocks barren. We have moved away from the influence of the sea which tempers the climate of Liébana, and entered a zone which is much drier and much colder in the winter. A lively debate in San Glorio is whether to build a ski resort in the nearby mountainside. If they do so, it will be almost surely the end of that population of brown bears which still survive in the forests embracing the head of the valley.

Llánaves de la Reina. Photo: Eusebio Bustamante.

Llánaves de la Reina. In 1911 only the parish church was covered with tiles. The houses were roofed like this one, with rye straw. It is harder and more durable than wheat straw. It must be placed very precisely, following a strict technology, but it has great advantages over the roof of tiles or stone. Among others, it offers a better isolation in the winter. A rye straw roof might last about twenty years without replacement.

Río Quiviesa

El valle del Quiviesa, de Potes al Puerto de San Glorio (aquí la hoja completa)

El municipio de Vega de Liébana da nombre hoy a toda esta zona lebaniega que antes se conocía como Valle de Cereceda. Agrupa unos 23 núcleos habitados a lo largo del cauce del río y es un paso de enlace importante entre el Camino de Santiago de la costa y el Camino Francés.

Descubrir Cantabria 1. The Hungarian and his bear 2. En el valle de Liébana 3. «…pero no estoy contenta» 4. Río Deva 5. Río Quiviesa

Valmeo. Casi pasa desapercibido al empezar la carretera. Hay que cruzar el río, a la derecha, por uno de los dos puentes y aparece abajo, entre una vegetación densa por la proximidad del agua. En este pueblo está la casona medieval de los Colmenares, una familia que cuenta con varios personajes famosos, predicadores, marinos, diplomáticos y, en el siglo XIX, el levantisco don Manuel de Colmenares y Prellezo, sublevado en 1823 en el bando más conservador que quería liberar a Fernando VII de sus obligaciones constitucionales y reinstaurar el absolutismo tradicional (ciertamente, para conseguirlo tuvieron que intervenir, aparte de don Manuel, Los Cien Mil Hijos de San Luis.) En Valmeo escribió una encendida proclama, armó a los insurrectos y capitaneó una compañía de unos 1.600 voluntarios, fervorosamente apoyados por el clero de Liébana: consta que el prior del Monasterio de Santo Toribio fue precisamente el encargado de dotarlos de armas y municiones. Por otra parte, la pequeña iglesia de Valmeo cuenta con una sencilla puerta de medio arco del siglo XV enmarcada por un alfiz con bolas. Llama la atención en la mayoría de los pueblos de Liébana los pocos miramientos a la hora de colocar cables, postes y aparatos eléctricos o de teléfonos en los edificios históricos. En esto nos sentimos como en casa.


Tudes. Aquí cerca, en Porcieda, quedan restos de un antiguo monasterio dedicado a Santiago. Tudes, alta en la ladera, se dedicaba a estas últimas horas de la tarde a recoger el heno. Es un pueblo vivo, con una posada turística acogedora, que ha respetado bien la arquitectura tradicional, justo al lado de la iglesia del siglo XVI. Como en casi todas las ocasiones, al estar la iglesia cerrada no pudimos ver los dos famosos retablos de los siglos XVI y XVII que guarda.


Campollo y Maredes forman unidad, pero cada uno tiene su iglesia. En la de Campollo, con este aire de abandono, hay varias tallas de los siglos XVI-XVIII y un sillón nobiliario, de patrono, con el respaldo tallado también del s. XVIII. Hay dos ermitas muy pobres, la de la Magdalena y la de las santas Justa y Rufina. Esta última es de 1573, según una inscripción interior. Un grafiti del atrio de la iglesia de Campollo, nos devuelve a un pasado más próximo, cuando la mayoría de iglesias de España ostentaban el nombre de José Antonio Primo de Rivera en su fachada. Una prueba más de que aquí el tiempo corre más despacio. O un indicio de cómo es el clero de la zona.


Toranzo. En la vertiente opuesta a Campollo y Maredes, su iglesia tiene una pila bautismal medieval y una  talla de san Antonio Abad del s. XVIII. El origen fechable del pueblo es 961. Como en algunos otros de estos pueblos que aprovechaban la fuerza del agua, hubo aquí en otro tiempo una fragua y un molino, ahora casas remendadas, escudos sobre las puertas, flores, silencio.


Bores. Por supuesto, no vimos ni rastro de la famosa «moçuela de Bores» que siempre se cita porque «puso en amores» al Marqués de Santillana en una de sus serranillas. Ni tampoco a ninguna de sus posibles descendientes. Bores, como ocurre con Maredes y Campollo, tiene también un barrio un poco apartado, Campo, donde el mismo don Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marqués de Santillana, construyó dos grandes torres separadas por unos ochenta metros. Queda de ellas algo más que de la «moçuela», pero en trance de desaparecer definitivamente. Quedan pastores, eso sí, pero afortunadamente ninguno tan joven como el de abajo, fotografiado en los años 50, ha de ganarse la vida en la montaña.



Enterrías. Este pueblo quiere seguir en el mapa porque tiene argumentos para ello desde el s. XIII, cuando se fundó el Monasterio de San Pedro de Montero, cuyos únicos restos quizá sean las famosas celosías prerrománicas halladas no hace mucho. Cuando llegamos, un grupo de trabajadores estaban restaurando la casa barroca de los Gómez de Enterría. Nos asomamos y el dueño, muy amablemente, nos invitó a entrar y ver las inmensas bodegas sobre las que está construida y los muebles del siglo XVIII, ahora cubiertos del polvo por las obras, mientras nos hablaba de las dificultades y el coste que, aunque esté subvencionada, supone mantener una casa así. Y además, se quejaba, «los de Patrimonio» aún protestan porque hizo un tejado demasiado moderno para aislarse mejor del frío en invierno. También se ha abierto una atractiva posada y un conjunto etnográfico en la Casa de las Doñas.


Dobarganes. Estamos ya casi a mil metros de altitud y desde aquí parten varias pistas forestales hacia más arriba, al Pico Jano, por ejemplo.

Resultado de una batida de zorros en la parte alta del valle.

Estos son los pueblos más altos de la vega del Quiviesa. Antes de llegar a Ledantes nos asomamos al Mirador de Peñallana. Un poco más allá llegamos a Dobres. La carretera tiene varios túneles que enlazan poblaciones muy próximas, pero sin ellos la comunicación era casi imposible. De hecho, son obras modernas. La carretera de Bárago a Dobres se empezó a solicitar formalmente en 1924, se inció en 1946 y no se acabó hasta 1967. Los túneles a Cucayo empezaron a perforarse en 1946 y se abrieron al tráfico tres años más tarde. Cucayo (abajo) está ya encajonado al final del camino y mira desde arriba la perspectiva de todo el valle. Desde hace poco cuenta también con una posada.


Más arriba, antes de que la carretera abandone el valle en dirección a León, solo está el Puerto de San Glorio (1609 m). Pasándolo, queremos llegar hasta el lindero y pisar el primer pueblo de la provincia de León, Llánaves de la Reina. La vegetación en esta otra vertiente es más rala y las rocas más áridas. Nos hemos alejado del influjo del mar que atempera Liébana y entramos en una pradería menos húmeda, de inviernos muy fríos. Un debate vivo en San Glorio es si construir o no una estación de esquí. De hacerlo, a buen seguro se acabaría con la escasa población de osos pardos que aún sobreviven en los valles y que encuentran por aquí las vías de comunicación entre los bosques.

Llánaves de la Reina. Foto: Eusebio Bustamante.

Llánaves de la Reina. En el año 1911 solo la iglesia parroquial estaba cubierta con tejas. Las casas se techaban como esta, con paja de centeno. Es una paja dura y tiene los haces largos, más que la de trigo. Tiene que colocarse con gran precisión y siguiendo una técnica muy ajustada, pero presenta grandes ventajas sobre el tejado de barro o piedra. Entre otras, su mayor aislamiento en invierno. Un tejado de paja de centeno podía durar alrededor de veinte años sin tener que reponerlo.

God is great and I'm not

Students of the Leningrad Academy of Art preparing the giant portrait of Stalin for the festive decoration of 1 May 1934 (photo by M. Mitskevich)

I. Brodsky painting the portrait of Lenin for the congress room of the Smolny
(in the background the Volkhovstroi / Volkhov Lenin Hydroelectric Plant)

The last touches on the hitherto largest statue of Lenin by V. Kozlov, intended for Vladivistok, on the coast of the Pacific Sea. Photo by V. Presnyakov in the 1927/7 issue of Советское Фото

No, it’s not simply about the giant figures. It’s about the characteristic phenomenon, lasting only for a couple of decades, that people definitely strived to be photographed together with these figures in such a way that the figure may have a gigantic effect precisely because of their smallness.


Two other topoi of photographing giant statues are much better known, have a longer history and are still alive. The one is when the figure, all alone, rises majestically above something. The other is when, on the contrary, people rise above it, like on the photos of 1956 in Budapest above the head and boots of Stalin’s statue, or pose frivolously with it, as Western tourists with the monuments of former socialist countries. But this formula, when the little man increases the greatness of the figure with his own smallness, and draws safety and support for his smallness from the greatness of the figure, was fertile only for some decades. But at that time it was a lot. Among the many photos stored in my memory these are at hand right now, but the collection will grow.

Ilya Ilf in the Gorky Park, in front of Stalin’s giant fresco

“For three years have been coming to us hostile assumptions on His death, for three years the newspapers made by foreign intelligence services have been writing about it. However, the monument has been standing! And until the monument stands, He is also alive. And now it turns out that the hostile newspapers wrote the truth? It turns out that He is dead, by whose will the clouds floated on the sky and the rivers ran in their designated beds, dead is He who was the only husband of our mothers and the only grandfather of our grandchildren? It is easy to say: He’s dead. But then who will wake us every morning with the call of the plants and factories? Who will raise our potatoes and children? Who will produce paper and macaroni, and good quality brass coffin handles, which make our town famous throughout the world? Who will give us payment, show movies, sell ice cream and spit on the worms before we put them on the hook and throw it in the water? Who will rescue us from constipation and who will set the male dogs on the females? And finally who will tower above the chestnut trees in the central square? After all, without that it is not possible, without that it is not possible in any way.”

Yury Buida: Прусская невеста (The Prussian Bride,) 1998

Serra de ses Figueres

The schematic profile of Cabrera to the south of the island of Mallorca in the beautiful Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigations, 1526), based on the map of the Turkish admiral Piri Reis, only marks the bays where to cast anchor. On our visit to the island this year, however, we went inland, climbing high up to the crest of the Serra de ses Figueres (Sierra de las Higueras, the Fig Tree Mountain). There, from a certain point you can see simultaneously the harbor of “s’Olla” (the Pot), a small cove on the opposite side, the five “Estells”, islets or cliffs marking the southern boundary of the national park to the south, and to the north, pointing the way to Mallorca, the island of Conillera (Conejera, Rabbits Island) with the subsidiary islets that surround it.

Serra de ses Figueres

El esquemático perfil de Cabrera al sur de la isla de Mallorca, en el precioso Kitab-ı Bahriye (Libro de las materias marinas, 1526) basado en el mapa del almirante turco Piri Reis, apenas marca las ensenadas donde fondear. En nuestra visita de este año, en cambio, fuimos tierra adentro, arriba, recorriendo la cresta de la Serra de ses Figueres (Sierra de las Higueras). Allá, desde algún punto se ven simultáneamente el puerto, «S'Olla» (la olla) pequeña cala del lado opuesto, los cinco «Estells» o farallones que marcan el límite meridional del parque, al sur, y, al norte, señalando el camino a Mallorca, la isla de «Conillera» (Conejera) con los islotes que la rodean.