The ‘Asturian Chronicles’ tell it: after the conflict in Covadonga – whether it was a skirmish or a gigantic battle – the Muslims, defeated, “climbed to the top of Mount Auseva, and through the place of Amuesa they descended to Liébana.” That marked the beginning of a hasty retreat to escape from Don Pelayo and his men. It did not go well for them, then, “when they were marching on the top of the mountain that is on the bank of a river called Deva, next to the town they call Cosgaya, it happened by God’s decree that that mountain, revolving from its foundations” , threw the survivors into the river and “buried” them to death. «Do not judge this vain or fabulous; “But remember well that it was the same one who parted the waves of the Red Sea for the passage of the children of Israel!” the text added.
It is likely that the chronicles exaggerated the numbers of the defeated. In the words of Alfonso III, the Arab armies numbered 124,000 troops; and, of them, 63,000 began a massive retreat towards the south. What does seem much more plausible is the route that this colossal army traveled in its vain attempt to return to safe territory. A path of almost 70 kilometers that runs between Covadonga and Cosgaya through the Picos de Europa and that, even today, is known as the ‘Ruta de la Reconquista’.
The journalist and writer Juan Antonio Cabezas claimed on a double page of ABC for the birth of this ‘Ruta de la Reconquista’ in 1961. An itinerary that, in his own words, foreign tourists had to value so that “the natives of the region realized that they lived in a paradise surrounded by a treasure that they had not discovered until then.
Cabezas described Asturias as “the true Cantabrian Switzerland”; a region in which “each sculptural limestone mountain is like a colossal vertebra of the great geological spine of the Picos de Europa.” He also called out for the value of the “Paleolithic Gothic cathedrals made of snow and stone”, symbols of our traditional past. And that, not to mention rivers like the Sella or the Cares. “Now, six main town councils and other minor ones work with enthusiasm and determination, ready to organize this international tourist route, whose itineraries through the legendary mountains where the Reconquista began range from the Cantabrian coast to the high ports.”
great victory
The route is still active today. It runs, as Cabezas predicted, along the historic path that the Muslim troops followed after their defeat at Covadonga. Region from which it emanates, like a runaway river, a route that passes through the Picos de Europa and crosses such decisive enclaves as Sotres and Poncebos. Currently it consists of three stages. The journalist, for his part, divided the “attractions” into two: those that are the work of nature – gorges, gorges, sculptural limestone peaks, caves and gorges with centuries behind them – and those that are “monumental” or manufactured by human hand – churches, oratories, dolmens, chapels or camps. The list of both is immense.
As it could not be otherwise, Cabezas dedicated his first lines to Covadonga. The enclave from which Don Pelayo began the Reconquista. This nobleman took power at the end of the year 718 when, tired of the heavy tributes to the Muslims, he convinced his compatriots to take up arms. “He must have encouraged them not to pay with an argument as simple and powerful as that, if the Muslims wanted money, they should go look for it there, in the mountains,” determines historian Domingo Domené in ‘Year 711’. According to mysticism, he gathered 300 brave men and urged them to resist the enemy. Although before that he received a visit from a bishop named Don Oppas, who called him to surrender.
–I judge that it is not hidden from you how recently all of Spain was united under the government of the Goths, and that, however, when the entire army of the Goths was gathered, it could not sustain the momentum of the Ismailis. Can you defend yourself on the top of this mountain?
–Did you not read in the Holy Scriptures that the church of the Lord will become like the mustard seed and will grow again through the mercy of God?
There are two versions of what happened. The first, Christian, affirms that Don Pelayo defeated a gigantic contingent of 188,000 combatants after becoming strong on the slopes of Mount Auseva. This is how the scribes of Alfonso III recorded it. The Muslim chronicles, for their part, defined the episode as a skirmish in which their army did not stop attacking the Christians for hours until there were only “thirty wild asses” left that could not do them any harm. Therefore, they decided to withdraw. Whether we use one thesis or another, what is undeniable is that there was a victory against Commander Al Qama’s troops that fostered a feeling of resistance.
Christian revolution
The journalist also recalled in his article another of the most notable locations on the ‘Ruta de la Reconquista’: Cangas de Onís. Located in the Eastern region of the region, this town became the first capital of the Kingdom of Asturias because its fields were the ones that hosted the battle of Covandoga. Although it had already entered the history books long before. “It is the oldest sacred site in the region, in which seven buildings superimposed on the ground and in time are identified,” the reporter explained.
Among them stood out the “dolmen or Celtiberian temple.” This monument had history long before Covadonga. Close to the ‘Buxu’ caves, famous for their Paleolithic paintings, it was destroyed by the legionaries of Octavian Augustus in the 1st century BC. C. when he proposed to reformulate the territory after the Roman conquest. «Augustus carried out an important reorganization of the Empire that affected Hispania with a new division. The most recently conquered provinces that had not yet been completely pacified remained under the control of the emperor with the presence of the legions,” explains Trevor Cairns in ‘The Romans and Their Empire’. On the remains of that symbol, the Roman emperor erected a temple.
Much later, in the 5th century, the first Christian oratory was built on top of that church. The same one on which one of the most unknown characters in our history, King Favila, erected the first temple in commemoration of the battle of Covadonga. This unknown monarch was the son of Don Pelayo and, according to mysticism, he reigned for a short time before dying due to a bear attack. As a curiosity, the place where the regicide animal disappeared is still remembered. «With doctoral certainty the villagers of the region affirm […] “That, pursued very closely, it disappeared, falling into a cave that they took care to wall up so that the animal would die besieged by hunger,” explained the chronicles of the time. The versions, as expected, were many.
According to the ABC journalist, all that remains of that is a temple that was built and destroyed on two occasions: “The current one is a hermitage of classic Asturian architecture, the work of Don Luis Menéndez Pidal, with the original idea of preserving on the ground “the chapel has an illuminated basement, where you can see the stone of the primitive dolmen, with its rough rock ornamentation.” Nor did the reporter forget a large Roman bridge erected in the region, better known today as the ‘puentón’ and raised over the waters of the Sella River. Both constructions can be enjoyed today.
Although these enclaves form the backbone of the route, today there are many others that form part of the path. Among them, the town of Sotres stands out, the highest in Asturias. This is followed by others like Bulnes. Authors such as the popular historian Sánchez de Albornoz mentioned that the ‘Moors’, as they were called in the writings, passed through its streets while fleeing from Don Pelayo. But that is only the beginning, since they also crossed the Culiembru channel, the Piedrabellida channel, Amuesa, Pandébano and Áliva. A huge number of places that can be visited and that are living history of Spain.
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