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Let's Discover
Potes, in the Picos de Europa mountain range in northern Spain |
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| Potes is a lovely
little market town in the north of Spain, within the Autonomous Community
of Cantabria. The town is in the heart of the Liébana comarca
(a comarca is a traditional administrative area
similar to an English county or shire).
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| Potes is well supplied with shops, bars and restaurants.
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Despite the considerable damage caused in 1936, during the
Spanish Civil War, the Barrio Viejo, (old district)
retains its spectacular medieval aspect with its narrow cobbled streets
and small bridges over its two rivers.
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The two old bridges
Puente de San Cayetano and Puente de la Carcel contribute significantly to that environment of past centuries.
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Puente de San
Cayetano
43.15345 North,
-4.62475 West
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Puente de San
Carcel
43.15395 North,
-4.62330 West |
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| It is near
the Puente de San Carcel bridge that the Río
Quiviesa
joins up with the Río Deva |
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Potes has many interesting buildings and monuments too,
reflecting centuries of history
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Click
on the plan to see it full size. |
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Key:
1) Antigua Iglesia de San Vicente
2) Torre de Infantado
3) Torre de Orejón de la Lama
4) Casa de Cultura F.A.H. y Museo Cartográfico
5) Puente de San Cayetano
6) Torre de Calseca
7) Torre de Linares
8) Ermita Virgen de Valmayor
9) Torre de Los Osorio
10) Casa de Jesús de Monasterio
11) Antiguo convento se San Raimundo |
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| The 15th century Infantado
Tower is build on a square plan with four corner turrets and crenellated at the top.
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| Also of
interest is the 15th century Orejón de Lima Tower on the ??? bank of
the Rio Deva, which is used for exhibitions. When I
visited, the exhibition on the torturing to death of medieval
witches was of very poor quality, uninformed and
sensationalised, reinforcing rather than condemning the
hysterical propaganda of the time. Maybe others are better.
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| Potes lies in the
south-eastern corner of the Picos de Europa and is a centre for various
companies offering mountain excursions and activities, such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing, mountain skiing,
horse riding, canoeing, paragliding, hunting, fishing and the environmentally
dubious quad bike tours. |
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| Make
sure you sample the local cuisine, with dishes such ascocido lebaniego (chickpea casserole) and game stews.
Also try the the famous, traditionally distilled liqueurs, such
asorujo. There are also excellent Asturian ciders. All
these products are available every Monday at the traditional market.
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The San
Cayetano Cider House |
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Potes celebrates its local
fiesta, La Santísima Cruz on the 14th September. In addition
there is the Aguardiente Fiesta de Orujo in November. Aguardiente
is a very strong spirit made from grapes. The fiesta always takes place
at the weekend and involves stalls being set up in the streets and aguardient being made on the spot using a technique
involving heating the grape mix and distilling the alcohol. There is a competition to find the
person who makes the best Orujo. Many of the locals dress up in traditional costumes and there is traditional music and dancing. Glasses of Orujo are offered to everyone who attends the fiesta and is actually available in a variety of flavours.
Consumption of orujo naturally leads to all night dancing. As in most Spanish
ferias plenty of eating takes place and the main food involved is chorizo, morcilla, pork ribs, chickpeas and other cheap cuts of meat.
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The busiest, most important livestock fair in all Cantabria takes place
here on the 2nd November.
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Walking in
the Picos de Europa - The
walking here is out of this world. CLICK HERE
for details of the walks I recommend together with GPS
coordinates.
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| Great
Books and Maps ! |
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Walks
and Climbs in the Picos De Europa
by
Robin Walker |
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Walking in the Cordillera Cantabrica:
A Mountaineering Guide (Cicerone Mountain Walking)
by
Robin Walker |
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Northern Spain Handbook
(Footprint Travel Guides)
by
Andy Symington |
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Northern Spain
(Cadogan Guide Northern Spain)
by
Dana Facaros, |
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Michelin Map 572 Regional Spain
Asturias, Cantabria
by
Michelin |
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Lonely Planet Spain:
Cantabria & Asturias
by
Damien Simonis |
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The Highlands of Cantabria,
or Three Days From England
With Engravings and Photographs
by
Mars Ross |
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Asturian of Cantabria:
Early Holocene Hunter-gatherers in Northern Spain
(Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona)
by
Geoffrey A Clark |
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Northern
Spain:
10 Circular Walks Around the Picos De Europa
by
Peter Ward, Trish Myers, and Terence Keogh |
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Picos
De Europa: Car Tours and Walks (Landscapes)
by
Teresa Farino |
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Trekking
and Climbing in Northern Spain
by
Jim Thomson, Ilja Schroder, Jim Thompson,
and Victor Saunders |
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Flowers
of South-west Europe: A Field Guide
by
Oleg Polunin and B.E. Smythies |
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Birds
of Iberia
by
Clive Finlayson and David Tomlinson |
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Wild
Spain:
The Animals, Plants and Landscapes
by
Teresa Farino |
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The
Birds of the Western Palearctic
by
David Snow and Christopher Perrins |
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Birds
of the Western Palearctic:
A Photographic Guide
by
Hadoram Shirihai and Lars Svensson |
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The
Advanced Bird Guide:
ID of Every Plumage of Every Western Palearctic
Species
by
Nils Van Duivendijk |
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Handbook
of the Birds of Europe, Middle East & North
Africa, The Birds of the Western Palearctic:
A Nine Volume Set by the late
Stanley Cramp |
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Other Useful Links |
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| Travel
Pics Pro - - www.travelpicspro.com
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