Up or down?
Until the final page is ready, you can see some pictures of Picos de Europa (Europe's peaks).
This mountainous area situated to the West of Cantabria, and shared by three different autonomous regions of Spain, receives its name due to the fact that it contains the mountains first seen by people when coming back from the Americas in past centuries.
Peaks measure over 2,500 meters high, and are just a few kilometers from the shore.
First historical notices of this area date back to the eight century, as it was what could be considered the craddle of famous "Reconquista". At this time, a kingdom was established in the western town of Cangas de Onis, keeping all these valleys and mountains free of Arabic invaders. This kingdom spreaded eastwards and westwards in a short time, becoming Kingdom of Oviedo at the beginning of the ninth century. The king ruled over modern Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria.
The cantabrian part of Picos de Europa is known as Valley of Liebana. A monk called Beatus of Liebana fought heresy from these mountains in the eighth century by writing a book entitled "Comments to Apocalypse". The book, and its subsequent hand-made copies all over Europe, contained remarkable illustrations to explain all ideas developed inside. This monk seems to have had a strong influence on the kingdom, and this could account for the fact that once he announced the existence of the grave of apostle St. James in Santiago de Compostela, the town became a place of pilgrimage ever since. In the same period, what is supposed to be the biggest piece of the Christ's cross was brought to the valley by people escaping Muslim conquerors. This piece is nowadays kept in the local monastery and shown on display several times a day.
Home
My last papers
Dissertations
Up or down?
Links
