An Asturian man flies from another world to avoid his own wife's wedding
You know that it is often the small jar that holds the best jam. The saying is especially true in the interior of Asturias. The council of Morcín, for example, has 65 population centers, 53 of which do not reach 100 inhabitants. La Collá is one of those tiny neighborhoods. From there starts the 5.3-kilometre path that leads to the chapel of La Magdalena and the hermitage of Santiago. Both temples are modest in size and appearance, but it is believed that the Holy Ark itself was hidden in them until it was moved to the Oviedo cathedral.
His presence is attributed to Saint Toribio, a religious born in Astorga during the 5th century. The hagiography explains that, after getting rid of his property, he traveled to Jerusalem, where he served as sacristan of the Holy Sepulchre. There he gained access to some relics of Jesus and the Virgin, which he took to the Iberian Peninsula when Persian armies threatened the Holy Land.
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Magda BigasAccording to that version, Don Pelayo himself hid the Holy Ark in the Monsacro, where he spent 80 years, until Alfonso II moved it to give presence and prestige to his capital, Oviedo.
Our two chapels played, you see, a fundamental role in protecting the Holy Ark, until its safety could be guaranteed. For that alone, the visit is already worth it. In addition, the walk runs through fantastic landscapes. Regarding the temples, both were declared artistic historical monuments in 1992.
Argame is another parish in the same council of Morcín. A long time ago, one of his neighbors believed in precognitive dreams at face value. The man's name was Juan Portal and he had his wife driven mad by the whims of her subconscious. Freud and Jung would have drawn conclusions, don't ask me what.
Chapel of the Magdalena and hermitage of Santiago
The temples were declared artistic historical monuments in 1992
One night, our man dreamed that he would find a fortune by a certain bridge some distance from his home. Neither short nor lazy, he loaded a bag with groceries and tools, and headed there. The man dug holes in the ground for many meters around without finding more than boulders. He was not discouraged by it. He just sat under a tree and waited for the treasure to come. His confidence in his dream was limitless.
He had been there for several days doing nothing, hand over hand, when a peasant asked him what he was doing, if he was waiting for someone. Our visionary explained the case to him, but the other laughed at him and reproached him for his conviction. "If I believed in my dreams," he stressed, "he would have gone to Argame long ago. A few days ago I dreamed that a man named Juan Portal has a golden goat under his fig tree and he doesn't know it. What nonsense!"
Juan Portal pretended to be sad, thanked the advice and, when the other said goodbye, he started back. As soon as he got to his house, he started digging at the foot of the fig tree like a man possessed. His wife looked at him with pity, what a pity for a man. His demeanor changed when Portal dug up the golden kid.
They say that, from then on, she spent her nights awake, always with a notebook and a pencil at hand, ready to write down any phrase that her admired husband pronounced in her dreams.
You will know that Asturias is the land of brown bears. The region is believed to be home to around a hundred today, but there were once many more. Hence its role in many legends. One of them alludes to the foundation of the monastery of San Salvador de Cornellana, in the council of Salas.
One of the accesses to the enclosure is called Puerta de la Osa, because it exhibits a relief in which a female breastfeeds a girl. According to tradition, the region belonged to the noble house of Doriga during the High Middle Ages. One time, the newborn daughter of those gentlemen was in the care of a slightly giddy nurse. While the woman amused herself with the flowers and the birds, an attentive bear grabbed the creature in her jaws and headed off towards the Narcea River.
San Salvador de Cornellana
The scene in which the girl suckled the bear is the same relief that still adorns the monastery
When the woman realized her disappearance, she began to cry out. The entire servants mobilized. It was in vain: the baby had disappeared. Fortunately, one of the servants was more alert and intrepid than the others: neither short nor lazy, he swam across the river and began to search on the other shore. In the thickest of the thicket he heard a sound that drew her attention. So he found the bear while he nursed the girl, who, by the way, seemed fond of her new nurse.
The young man screamed until he was hoarse, so he chased away the plantigrade. He then he picked up her little girl and returned her to her parents. These, excited, paid for the construction of a sanctuary to commemorate the prodigy. They consecrated him to Saint Saviour. In it they ordered to carve the scene in which his daughter suckled the bear. It is the same relief that still adorns the monastery.
Ablaneda is a neighborhood in the same council as Salas. Like so many, it has suffered the emigration of most of its neighbors, today it barely has twenty inhabitants.
The nucleus has a small reservoir, known as the Fullaricos well. Tradition ensures that beams and other building materials are sometimes visible in the background. Historians, so rational, link them to ancient facilities created by Rome for the extraction of gold in the region. The local tradition, you will already suppose, attributes another origin to it: it considers them the remains of a submerged palace.
This stood right in the place where the well is today. Supposedly it was inhabited by a noble widower and his only daughter. She this she was very pretty, but also somewhat cocky and overly competitive. It is not known how, in the region a silly controversy arose about who was the most beautiful young woman in the area, our young woman or the heiress of Belmonte, also graceful. You see how simple, but our protagonist was furious for that doubt.
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Pepe VerduOne day he ran into two shepherds who were grazing some cows. He politely introduced himself and asked permission to spend the night in his cabin. The cowherd boys not only welcomed him, but shared their supper with him. The next morning he said goodbye, after telling them: «If you ever go to the city of Brita, ask for Xuan Cabrita».
Years passed, and the boys became men. One of them, already married, suffered a maritime shipwreck. His boat sank, and the poor man swam as best he could to unknown lands. After stumbling around a lot, he came to a town called... Brita. There he asked about Xuan Cabrita's house.
The Nuberu's wife received him, who locked him in a room until he returned from his chores. Our castaway already looked mincemeat, but Xuan Cabrita treated him with affection and generosity. He also explained that he was just returning from unloading a cloud of hail on his town, and that there he learned that the young man's wife was about to marry someone else because she thought he was dead.
Next to the Nalón River
The Mythological Walk of Sama de Langreo strings together successive sculptures and paintings of these beings
When he saw how the news affected the young man, he offered to fly him to Turón. He only gave her two warnings: to encourage him with the cry “Arre, demon! Come on, demon! »; and that he refrain from mentioning God or the saints, because if he did, he would inevitably throw him to the ground.
The trip was really short. In a flash plas they flew over the roofs of Turón. They were beginning to land when the passenger blurted out: "Oh, God, I see my town." Badly done, because the Nuberu gave a violent shake that knocked him off his horse and threw him into the void. Luckily they were already low. The young man managed to cling to a tree, and fell to the ground with only a few light bumps and a few scratches. Of course, he arrived in time to prevent his own wife's wedding.
It is possible that this last legend has aroused his curiosity about the mythological beings that populate Asturias. If you want to meet them, I encourage you to visit the Mythological walk of Sama de Langreo. It runs along the Nalón river and strings together successive sculptures and paintings of all of them. Of course, he arrived in time to prevent his own wife's wedding.
