Maybe you need a few days for rest, to forget the stress of your work. Well, if this is so, I recommend you going to the "Valley of Silence", located in the province of Leon, northwest of Spain. There, you will find a very nice village, called Peñalba de Santiago. This village is to the southeast of Ponferrada.
Peñalba de Santiago in the Valley of Silence
Peñalba de Santiago
Peñalba is below on the right side. Las Médulas: in the middle and left side.
To reach Peñalba, you have to go through the valley of the River “Oza”, a nice road next to the river, running through the forest valley.
The river Oza
On reaching the village, we will have to leave the car in the large parking lot gratis, at the entrance, because here the road ends. In this way, we can enjoy even more of the village, as there are no cars or engine noises.
The parking
The village is very nice, although we note that it has been renovated, from top to bottom, as it is a tourist destination, in the mountains of the area.
Some renovated houses
From here, you enter the Valley of Silence, to the cave of San Genadio, on a route 30 min going and another 30 return, and above all, we will enjoy some beautiful views of the valley and mountains –mountains named “Montes Aquilanos”--.
"Montes Aquilanos"
Peñalba attract our attention by the framework of its streets, its rustic houses and the Mozarabic church.
"The church "Santiago de Peñalba"
Noted for its exotic Moorish touch, especially remarkable in one of its doors.
The entrance of the church
Inside the church, there is only a small altar for offerings; but outside is very interesting the pleasant walk up to the cave.
Inside the church
The village was founded in the 10th century, by St. Gennadius, being a small monastery of Moorish influence the first construction. The Monastery was built among 909 and 937.Near the village, about 30 minutes walking, you can still visit the “Cave of San Genadio”, where the saint apparently retired to meditate himself. It is said that, in his search for silence, he even called for silence to the waters of the Oza (river). It is not surprising that this valley, today, is known with the name of Valley of Silence.
The Cave is a simple cavity, open all year, which is accessed from the village, after a short walk.
The Cave of San Genadio
Currently the village has only 20 inhabitants, but it has a restaurant, a bar and several rural lodgings.
By this time, you have deduced that you go to Peñalba in search of tranquility and nature. In fact, the access to the village is quite tortuous. The last 10km of the road, which goes from Ponferrada (the only one), are very narrow and wriggle route, between mountains with vertiginous cliffs. Fortunately, this favors one can still find there that famous silence that haunted San Genadio. And the views are priceless.
One of the important features of Peñalba is its ideal location for practising hiking. From Peñalba there are two signposted routes: the Way of Herrerias (Peñalba - El Acebo, 18km) and the “Camino del Silencio” (“Road of Silence”) (Peñalba - Las Médulas, 30km). You can also choose to make a circular route, the "path of Tebaida Berciana" of 14km.
The Way of Herrerías
The Way of Herrerias
The Road of Silence
Las Médulas
The photos give you an idea of how is the village, with its houses with slate roofs and cobbled streets. A real delight, although the nostalgic people will miss the times when everything was waiting for being restored.
Well, I hope that you have liked this post and hope that you can visit the area of El Bierzo and concretely this nice Village: Peñalba de Santiago.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
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