Travel Guide Pola De Lena

Located 30 km south of Oviedo, this town of almost 9,000 inhabitants was founded in 1266 by Alfonso II, the wise. It is located in a privileged position for the passage between Oviedo and Leon. Watered by the river Lena, it has a beautiful architectural heritage, including the church of Santa Cristina, located near the Pajares pass. A jewel of pre-Romanesque art from the 9th century, listed as a World Heritage Site since 1985, its style is similar to that of Santa María del Naranco, but with more Visigothic elements. As part of the Camino de Leon, Pola de Lena is also an ideal starting point for visiting the Las Ubiñas-la Mesa Natural Park, some 20 kilometres away. The park reaches an altitude of over 2,400 metres, with the peaks of Fontán and Peña Ubiña (2,417 metres), and it is possible to see signs of the Cantabrian brown bear, as well as birds of prey such as the eagle and the vulture. If you are there on the first Sunday in June, you can attend the Corderu (lamb) festival, where the animalsare cooked around a fire, hung by their feet, each one in the shape of a cross. This is one of the most emblematic romerías of the region. Tasting it and the products of the hunt, which play an important role in its gastronomy, accompanied by the famous pan de Escanda, a bread made from an almost prehistoric type of wheat that has always grown in the mountains, is a real culinary pleasure.