Pass of Piedrasluengas

File:HayedoLiebana.JPG forest in the foothills of the pass of Piedrasluengas.]]

The unusual adjective ‘luengo’ comes from the Latin longus, which means ‘vast’ or ‘large’, so the meaning of the toponym is ‘pass of large stones’. In any case, the toponym comes from the nearby Palencia hamlet of the same name ({{Interlanguage link|Piedrasluengas|es|Piedrasluengas}}); and indeed, next to it, some large stones that form curious shapes are very striking.{{Cite web |title=Puerto de Piedrasluengas |trans-title=Pass of Piedrasluengas |url=http://xn--pateandoespaa-tkb.es/archivo7/espana/todas%20las%20ciudades/Puerto%20de%20Piedrasluengas.html |website=Pateando España |language=es}}{{Cite web |title=Piedrasluengas |url=https://www.turismolapernia.com/piedrasluengas |website=La Pernía |language=es}}

Its route gives rise to two ancient routes such as the old Roman road that evolved into the Royal Way of La Valdavia and the Roman road of Burejo, which also left from {{Interlanguage link|Pisoraca (Palencia)|lt=Pisoraca|es|Pisoraca}} and crossed the Cantabrian mountain range through this pass.As reported in a document of Santo Toribio de Liébana from 959: ‘... via qui discurrit a Pautes (Potes)’, and another dated 1001, ‘...sobre via qui discurrit a Bannes...’ (Sánchez Belda, Luis (1948). Cartulario de Santo Toribio de Liébana [Cartulary of Saint Toribio of Liébana] (in Spanish). Madrid:CSIC: docs. 57 and 79). Once they had visited the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana, in the late Middle Ages, Santo Toribio also had the option of heading towards León via the Riaño access road. Reference made in {{Cite journal |last1=Menéndez-Bueyes |first1=Luis R. |last2=Argüelles Álvarez |first2=Patricia A. |last3=Mateos Cachorro |first3=Ana |last4=Rodríguez Méndez |first4=Jesús |date=2020 |title=La ocupación tardoantigua de la cueva de guantes (Palencia): contexto y materiales |trans-title=Late Antiquity Occupation of the Cave of Guantes (Palencia): Context and Materials |url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/ATM/article/view/5418/5423 |journal=Arqueología y Territorio Medieval |language=es |volume=27 |pages=157–192 |doi=10.17561/aytm.v27.5418 |issn=1134-3184|doi-access=free }} The valley formed by the river {{Interlanguage link|Bullón|lt=|es|Bullón}} serves as a natural pass through the mountains, and a large part of the route runs parallel to it. Some studies maintain that this pass was used by one of the three columns of the Roman Empire that carried out the definitive campaign against the Cantabri, proof of which is the siege at the head of {{Interlanguage link|La Valdavia|lt=|es|La Valdavia}} of {{Interlanguage link|Castro de la Loma|lt=|es|Castro de la Loma}}.{{Cite journal |last=Martínez Pereda |first=María José |date=1989 |title=Penetración romana en los Picos de Europa |trans-title=Roman Penetration in Picos de Europa |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2486736 |journal=Publicaciones de la Institución Tello Téllez de Meneses |language=es |issue=60 |pages=15–66 |issn=0210-7317}}

From south to north, although the ascent itself does not begin until a few km. further on, it is usually considered to begin in Cervera de Pisuerga (Palencia), at 1005 m a.s.l. along the CL-627 road, reaching its maximum altitude at 1390 m a.s.l., exactly at point 43°02′45″N 4°27′05″W, and ends a few km. before the Cantabrian village of Potes, at 291 m a.s.l., after covering 56.2 km.{{Cite journal |last1=Menéndez-Bueyes |first1=Luis R. |last2=Argüelles Álvarez |first2=Patricia A. |last3=Mateos Cachorro |first3=Ana |last4=Rodríguez Méndez |first4=Jesús |date=2020 |title=La ocupación tardoantigua de la cueva de guantes (Palencia): contexto y materiales |trans-title=Late Antiquity Occupation of the Cave of Guantes (Palencia): Context and Materials |url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/ATM/article/view/5418/5423 |journal=Arqueología y Territorio Medieval |language=es |volume=27 |pages=157–192 |doi=10.17561/aytm.v27.5418 |issn=1134-3184 |quote=En este punto es donde confluía con la citada vía a Potes y el Cantábrico que tomaba origen en Pisoraca y Cervera de Pisuerga. |trans-quote=At this point is where it converges with the aforementioned road to Potes and the Cantabrian Sea, which originates in Pisoraca and Cervera de Pisuerga.|doi-access=free }}

Of the 40.8 km of the pass itself, 15.3 km are on the Palencia side and 25.5 km on the Cantabrian side. It starts, from S to N, in {{Interlanguage link|San Salvador de Cantamuda|lt=|es|San Salvador de Cantamuda}}, at 1100 m above sea level, crossing the Palencia towns of {{Interlanguage link|Areños (Palencia)|lt=Areños|es|Areños (Palencia) }}, {{Interlanguage link|Camasobres|es|Camasobres}} and {{Interlanguage link|Piedrasluengas|es|Piedrasluengas}},{{Cite thesis |last=Martín Merino |first=Germán |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/tesis?codigo=87688 |title=La geología del área del Pisuerga (sureste de la zona Cantábrica): estratigrafía y evolución tecnosedimentaria de cuencas transportadas (Piggy-Back) Pensilvánicas |date=2014 |publisher=Universidad de Salamanca |pages=47 |language=es |trans-title=Geology of the Pisuerga Area (Southeast of the Cantabrian Area): Stratigraphy and Techno-sedimentary Evolution of Pennsylvanian Piggy-Back Basins}}{{Cite book |last=Delgado Ubeda |first=José |url=https://www.mapa.gob.es/ministerio/pags/biblioteca/fondo/pdf/92450_all.pdf |title=El Parque Nacional de la Montaña de Covadonga |date=1932 |publisher=Ministerio de Agricultura, Industria y Comercio, Comisaria de Parques Nacionales |pages=63 |language=es |trans-title=Montaña de Covadonga National Park |chapter=Medios de acceso |trans-chapter=Means of access}} and the Cantabrian towns of {{Interlanguage link|Valdeprado (Cantabria)|es|Valdeprado (Cantabria)|lt=Valdeprado}}, Pesaguero, Puente Asnil, Cabezón de Liébana and {{Interlanguage link|Frama (Cantabria)|es|Frama |lt=Frama}}, to reach {{Interlanguage link|Ojedo|es|Ojedo|lt=}}, at 300 m above sea level.{{Cite book |last=Pereda De la Reguera |first=Manuel |url=https://centrodeestudiosmontaneses.com/wp-content/uploads/DOC_CEM/BIBLIOTECA/EDICION_OTROS/liebana_y_picos_de_europa_1972.pdf |title=Liébana y Picos de Europa |date=1972 |publisher=Institución Cultural de Cantabria |language=es |trans-title=Liébana and Picos de Europa}} The Palencia part of the route has a difference in altitude of 290 m and the Cantabrian part a difference in altitude of 1090 m. The top of the pass is in the province of Palencia, a few kilometres from the provincial border.{{Cite web |title=Mapa de la ruta castellana |trans-title=Map of the Ruta Castellana |url=https://www.caminolebaniego.com/ext/fi/20883/ruta-castellana-web-actualizado-con-fuentes.pdf |website=Municipio de Pesaguero |language=es}}{{Cite news |last=Toté |date=2022 |title=Tocando el cielo en el puerto de Piedrasluengas |trans-title=Touching the Sky in the Pass of Piedrasluengas |url=https://elcomic.es/tocando-el-cielo-en-el-puerto-de-piedrasluengas/ |work=Elcomic |language=es}}

File:Mirador de Piedrasluengas.jpg.]]

• The Piedrasluengas pass is, together with the Cantabria-Meseta motorway, the most important road crossing between Cantabria and Palencia, which, despite being two neighbouring provinces, are divided by the Cantabrian mountain range.
• The fact that it crosses the Cantabrian mountain range (it is located within the Montaña Palentina Natural Park) means that this pass has significant views; next to the village of the same name (the village of {{Interlanguage link|Piedrasluengas|es|Piedrasluengas}} is the most northerly in the province of Palencia) there is a wooden viewpoint from which to appreciate the nearby peaks: Peña Labra, {{Interlanguage link|Cuchillón|es|Cuchillón}} and {{Interlanguage link|Pico Tres Mares|es|Pico Tres Mares}}, and the whole of the Liébana Valley.{{Cite web |last=Bardasco |first=José Antonio |title=Peña Labra |url=https://www.recorrepicos.com/Rutas/Pena_Labra_Cuchillon.HTM |website=RecorrePicos |language=es}}
• The pastures next to the pass are home to the {{Interlanguage link|Echium cantabricum|es|Echium cantabricum|lt=Piedrasluengas blue viburnum}}, a plant included in the Catalogue of Threatened Flora, and which is endemic to the area.{{Cite book |last1=Aru |first1=Barbara |url=https://bancodegermoplasma.usal.es/web/sites/bancodegermoplasma.usal.es/files/echium.pdf |title=Fichas Catálogo de Flora Protegida en Castilla y León: Echium cantabricum |last2=de Paz Canuria |first2=Elena |last3=Ruiz de Gopegui |first3=J. Antonio |last4=Alonso Redondo |first4=Raquel |last5=García González |first5=Marta Eva |publisher=Junta de Castilla y León. Universidad de León |language=es |trans-title=File Catalogue of Protected Flora in Castilla y León: Echium Cantabricum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619084002/http://bancodegermoplasma.usal.es/web/sites/bancodegermoplasma.usal.es/files/echium.pdf |archive-date=June 19, 2013}}
• Preserved beech forests in Cantabria.{{Cite web |last=García |first=Fermin |date=2019-11-08 |title=A través de un inmenso hayedo por Pesaguero |trans-title=Through an Immense Beech Forest Through Pesaguero |url=https://www.eldiariomontanes.es/dmontana/senderismo/traves-inmenso-hayedo-20191108211208-ntvo.html?ref=https://www.eldiariomontanes.es/dmontana/senderismo/traves-inmenso-hayedo-20191108211208-ntvo.html |website=El Diario Montañés |language=es}}

File:Panorámica desde Piedrasluengas.jpg, with Picos de Europa and {{Interlanguage link|Peña Sagra mountain range|es|Sierra de Peña Sagra|lt=Peña Sagra}} in the background, from the top of the pass.]]

• {{Interlanguage link|List:Highest roads in the world|es|Anexo:Carreteras más altas del mundo|lt=Highest roads in the world}}

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Category:Mountain passes of Cantabria

Category:Mountain passes of Spain

Category:Province of Palencia

Category:Cantabrian Mountains