Puntos de Interés
Municipality
Berducedo
Berducedo, a parish and village located in the Asturian council of Allande, in the Vaqueira region, just 23 km from the capital of the municipality, between the inland mountain ranges of Carondio and Valledor.
This parish is one among the 17 that make up the municipality of Allande, including notable counterparts like Buistantigo, Celón, Lago, Linares, Pola de Allande, San Emiliano, San Martín del Valledor, Santa Coloma, and Villar de Sapos and villages such as Baldedo, Berducedo, Las Cabañas, Castello, El Castro, Corondeño, La Figuerina, La Grandera, Teijedo, Trapa, and Trellopico, some of which now lie uninhabited and abandoned.
Dating back to the Neolithic period, the origins of settlements in this region are evidenced by megalithic structures and tomb remnants scattered throughout. Subsequently, Celtic and pre-Roman tribes shaped the landscape with a castreña culture, fortifying mountain peaks and elevations. The remnants of the San Luis castro, dating from the Bronze Age in the 7th century BC and located near San Martín de Berducedo, are witnesses to this era.
The Roman arrival in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD transformed the area into a mining hub, with gold extraction becoming pivotal in the valley of the Oro River within the municipality of Allande.
Delving into the history of Berducedo, the renowned Camino Primitivo, a pilgrimage route dating back to the 9th century, traverses the interior of Asturias and Galicia. There is evidence of the existence of a pilgrims' hospital founded by the lordship of Neira de Xusá in the 13th century, which was rebuilt in 1785 and eventually disappeared in 1980.
Monumentally, the Church of Santa María de Berducedo, built between the 14th and 15th centuries, graces the landscape. Housing a single rectangular nave with a gabled roof and two side chapels attached to the chancel, the church once showcased 14th-century frescoes, lost during alterations in 1910. An "L"-shaped porticoed space adorns the exterior, covering the entrance and part of the church's side. The façade is crowned with a 19th-century belfry, a two-story structure adorned with three openings and lateral pinnacles. Adjacent to the church stands a century-old yew tree (Taxus baccata), almost 13 meters in height, once revered as a totemic and sacred tree by the Celtic populations of the region.
The festivities in honour of Saint Elisabeth are celebrated on the first weekend in July.