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The region of Liebana is made out of seven municipalities,
located in the four valleys that converge in Potes. It is
located in the south- east of Cantabria, it is next to the
Principality of Asturias and the Castilian provinces of Leon
and Palencia.
POPULATION
Liebana has a surface of 556.3 km2
and one total population, at present, of 5, 975 inhabitants.
There is a great difference of population figures between
all the villages in the area: from a total number of 60
inhabitants registered in Tresviso to 1, 579 inhabitants who
have settled down in Potes.
Demographically the region backs down, although to a lesser
extent than in the sixties and the seventies, but the
floating population increases. Both tourism and second
residence houses have increased dramatically in the last
decade.
HISTORY
Liebana is a natural refuge that
welcomed the primitive settlers, the Cantabrians, who
refused to be put under Rome. It was then when a long
history in events and important facts began.
Safe from the Arabs, after the invasion of the Iberian
Peninsula in the 8th century, the repopulation of the
territory was fast and the religious monachal orders played
an important role.
The feudal fights between the houses of the Mendozas and the
Manriques were settled, in the middle of the 15th century,
when Diego de Mendoza, son of the Marquis of Santillana,
received from the Catholic Queen and King the title of the
Dukedom of the Infantado. The dominion of the great Dukedom
was extended until the 19th century, in spite of the
stubborn resistance from the Lebaniegan people.
ART LEGACY
Lebaniegan region is a land with a
rich historical past that preserves a legacy of singular
interest. The megalithic monuments which are present in high
mountainous areas; the funeral wakes, which are the memory
of a town that defended its independence with great courage;
the rock hermitages, a testimony of the first years of
Christianity; the medieval monasteries, that were built in
different valleys in great number; the churches that
preserved the different Romanesque, Gothic and even,
Neoclassical Art stages.
Liebana is rich in popular altarpieces, images and paintings
or medieval towers, but, above all, we must mention three
singular monuments: Santa Maria de Lebeña, Santa Maria de
Piasca and the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liebana.
GEOGRAPHY
The region of Liebana is a
perfectly defined territory of high mountains crossed by the
Deva river and its two main tributaries: the Quiviesa and
the Buyon.
Liebana is a closed territory which can only be acceded from
the North through a Gorge of the Hermida river "El
desfiladero de la Hermida", a road that runs by the
side of the Deva river and between steep lomestone rock
walls, almost vertical, some of them are over 600 metres.
A
NATURE RESERVE
It is a region of a
surprising weather variety, where a Mediterranean
microclimate is alternated with the rigors of alpine
meteorology on the higher areas.
The region is a nature reserve where native tree species
still survive such as the oaks. There are beautiful forests
in which protected species survive, as the bear or the
capercaillie.
The Tips of Europe are a main attraction to visit Liebana.
The bulk of the Tips of Europe extends to the north of the
Cantabrian Mountain range with a total surface of about 500
square kilometres, being its dimensions of about 35
kilometres from east to the west and about 15 kilometres
south to north. On the 22nd of July 1918, Pedro Pidal,
Marquis of Villaviciosa, got the recognition of a the
Mountain of Covadonga as a nature reserve and with that it
became the first National Park of Spain, with a surface of
16, 925 hectares. More than seventy years passed before a
new Law was approved. The 30th of May 1995 the whole region
was declared National Park, receiving the name of Parque
Natural de los Picos de Europa. It includes an area of 64,
660 hectares. It has become the largest National Park both
in Spain and Europe.
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