It could be said that Puentedey, in the north of the province of Burgos, in the historic region of the Merindades, is sacred territory, because, as the name already suggests, it is a divine work. A bridge, with all that it means, and above it Puente de Dios. A natural arch, in fact, but so perfect that from afar its engineering was attributed to a true miracle.
And it is, but wrought by the Nela River in its middle course, very close to its birth in the Somo mountains, at the border with Cantabria, with mountainous landscapes, green meadows and Pasiegan cabins. It is known that water is a fantastic sculptor and that, as Latin taught us, «cavat lapidem». In other words, it hollows the stone, not by force but by constancy. And that is what has happened here. Above the bridge, moreover, the village emerges, with barely fifty inhabitants and no less magical.
Its characteristic image, logically, is the bridge, the first thing you see upon arrival. But then, not everything is nature, although there is a lot of it, and neither are four houses simply hanging like a small Cuenca, which obsesses the Japanese. Wandering through its lanes, among the buildings typical of mountain architecture, with wooden portal, a long balcony and the threshing yard, the Palace of the Fernández de Brizuela immediately dazzles, with its two square towers, which Francisco de Brizuela, treasurer to Pedro Fernández de Velasco, constable of Castile, built in the 15th century.
Equally notable is the parish church, the 11th-century Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Pelayo, who is also the patron saint of Puentedey, not only of Asturias, and at the highest point. It bears Gothic features, its Renaissance main altarpiece and other later additions. On the façade you can see Saint George fighting the dragon, a classic of religious imagery. The palace and the church are in the original core, where the streets converge, which later expanded with other neighborhoods: La Bárcena, La Revilla, El Barrio and the newer Aguau. Yes, here they spoke the Cantabrian dialect.
It was believed to be a divine bridge and they named the town Puentedey.
For Puentedey ran the Santander-Mediterranean railway line, which brought prosperity and was closed in 1985, sprinkled with various elements of the industrial heritage such as bridges and tunnels, which today enliven the greenway into which it has transformed. And, while we’re at it with the walks, one should venture into the Canales de Dulla, a complex system of deep ravines between Villamartín de Sotoscueva and Quintanilla Valdebodres, the latter municipality possessing a Hell’s Well, a karst spring that could be 100 meters deep.
A Waterfall and the Natural Monument of Ojo Guareña
In the southern part of the canals, very close to Puentedey, in the direction of Quintanilla, the Mea waterfall plunges from a height of 30 meters, reached by a path among holm oaks and oaks that is worth walking to further sublime the experience. Especially now that we are in autumn and the desire for hiking remains persistent.
This land is also home to archaeological sites, especially in the surroundings of Ojo Guareña, cataloged as a natural monument and just a step away. A karst complex of more than 110 kilometers of underground galleries, impressive with examples of rock art that were used by humans between the Paleolithic and the Middle Ages. Above this complex stands the rupestrian hermitage of Saint Bernabé, sheltered by the mountain, with paintings that tell of miracles and traditions. Mystery, nature, and spirituality, all in one. Not to forget the Busnela dolmen.
Just a stone’s throw from Puentedey lies Ojo Guareña, with the rock hermitage of San Bernabé.
In the Geographical-Statistical-Historical Dictionary of Spain and its overseas possessions, a work promoted by Pascual Madoz in the mid-19th century, Puentedey is described as “a place on the banks of the Nela River, which divides it into 2 neighborhoods,” stressing that “its climate is quite cold and all winds reign,” and giving data such as “it has 40 houses and a parish church, served by a priest and a sexton.” Later it details that “over the Nela there is a bridge with a single arch, but of great height and that the roads are from village to village.”
We would add, in our own words, that it is a little under one hundred kilometers from Burgos and only 13 from Villarcayo; that it recently restored a hornera—a bread oven—there used to be five, one per neighborhood, to bake bread—, the mill and the horse-shoeing stock, and that it houses a bolos museum, a game that was already played in the XVI century. One more attraction, the San Andrés viewpoint, suspended in the air. In Puentedey one breathes peace, there is a desire to set off on foot, and also to savor another heritage, the gastronomic one. We are in Burgos, so alongside homemade bread, morcilla and lechazo are to be expected.
