It has always been said that the ways of the Lord are unpredictable; well, the same could be said of the roads of Asturias, especially if these also run along the old pilgrimage routes and make you end up, in addition, in solitary places, which, even in daylight, awaken the curious sensation of having violated those, in theory, mysterious laws that define the concepts of space and time and having inadvertently penetrated into another world.
At the sight, then, of certain places that you come across, it is difficult, even for the most volatile imaginations, not to have the impression of finding yourself in a true limbo of the lost and to recognize, with anguish and ill-contained rage, if perhaps destiny, that metaphorical Don Juan, who, deep down, is nothing but provocative and also mocking, has not led you directly into an ambush to show you that enigmatic place, where some melancholic poets supposed the snows of yesteryear ended up, while they lulled their tears with the sour wine of the roadside taverns.
Romanesque, belonging to those last gasps of a century, the 12th, which was already beginning to show the first glimpses of that evolution of fantasy, which is the Gothic style, the ruined church of what was once an opportune monastery on the pilgrim's route, that of Saint Mary of Tina, is now a curious spectre that is barely distinguishable from the numerous families of gorse and ferns that try to protect it from the winds that descend from the peaks of the neighbouring Europe Peaks and also from those others, similar to those that Poseidon sent to punish the bold Ulysses, that beat against him from the nearby cliffs that contain the impetuous waters of the Cantabrian Sea. And yet, if these stones, silenced by time and oblivion, could speak today, how many stories they would not tell.
Siempre se ha dicho que los caminos del Señor son imprevisibles; pues bien, otro tanto, podría decirse de los caminos de Asturias, sobre todo, si estos, además, transcurren por las antiguas rutas de peregrinación y te hacen recalar, por añadidura, en lugares solitarios, que, incluso a la luz del día despiertan la curiosa sensación de haber violado esas, en teoría, misteriosas leyes que definen los conceptos de espacio y de tiempo y haber penetrado, inadvertidamente, en otro mundo.
A la vista, entonces, de ciertos parajes con los que te encuentras, difícil resulta, incluso para las imaginaciones más volátiles, no tener la impresión de encontrarte en un verdadero limbo de lo perdido y reconocer, con angustia y rabia mal contenida, si quizás el destino, ese metafórico Don Juan, que, en el fondo, no deja de ser provocador y además burlón, no te ha llevado directamente a una celada para mostrarte ese enigmático lugar, donde algunos poetas melancólicos suponían que iban a parar las nieves de antaño, mientras adormecían su llanto con el vino agrio de las tabernas de los caminos.
Románica, perteneciente a esos últimos suspiros de un siglo, el XII, que ya comenzaba a presentar los primeros atisbos de esa evolución de la fantasía, que es el estilo gótico, la arruinada iglesia de lo que fuera un oportuno monasterio en la ruta del peregrino, el de Santa María de Tina, es ahora un curioso espectro que apenas se distingue de las numerosas familias de aliagas y de helechos que intentan protegerlo de los vientos que descienden de las cumbres de los vecinos Picos de Europa y también de aquellos otros, similares a los que Poseidón enviaba a castigar al audaz Ulises, que le baten desde los acantilados cercanos que contienen las impetuosas aguas del Mar Cantábrico. Y sin embargo, si estas piedras, enmudecidas por el tiempo y por el olvido, pudieran hoy hablar, cuántas historias no contarían.
NOTICE: Both the text and the photographs that accompany it are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore, are subject to my Copyright.
AVISO: Tanto el texto, como las fotografías que lo acompañan, son de mi exclusiva propiedad intelectual y por lo tanto, están sujetos a mis Derechos de Autor.
What a magical location! I'd LOVE to photograph portraits here, but I'm on the other side of the Earth.
It is a spectacular location, in the middle of a lush forest and a short distance from the cliffs of a wild sea, such as the Cantabrian Sea. Even if you live on the other side of the world, you never know: remember that adventure is adventure and maybe one day it will bring you to these lands. Kind regards.
Sounds like a dream! I'm sure there's stuff ... closer to me that will be discovered when I have time to go exploring, but I'll have to wait and see (and stalk satellite images voraciously)