Los Oscos, Exemplary Town of Asturias 2016

Redacción Oscos-Eo 07.03.2025

• Exemplary town
  

A tour of Los Oscos, brand new Exemplary Village of Asturias 2016, taking the witness of San Tirso de Abres and Castropol, which were previously.

There is a place like a fairy tale, that could well be the home of the xanas and the goblins, and also of the nuberu and the busgosu, and of all the mythological beings that you can imagine. A place made of quiet villages, and gentle mountains, bits of forest and small rivers and waterfalls. A place where the green of the Asturian nature merges with the black of the slate of its naked architectures, and where fire and iron have found the home of their dreams. That place is called Los Oscos, and among many other distinctions and awards it has the Exemplary Village of Asturias 2016.

The Oscos are three in one: Santa Eulalia, San Martín and Villanueva, and the three municipalities bear the surname “de Oscos”, and they wear it with pride. Three peaceful places where, in addition to the serene beauty of the landscape, the sweet hospitality of its inhabitants, always ready to make their home yours… Pure western Asturias!

There are many options to see and do in Los Oscos. Here are a few suggestions that we hope will not fall on deaf ears…

Mazonovo: A blacksmith’s shop that could inspire a fairytale

It is clear that Mazonovo is not just any place. To this small and hidden village of Santa Eulalia de Oscos you will have to look for it, because Mazonovo is special. So much so that it has one of the oldest blacksmiths or “forges” that remain in Asturias, since it is a forge that has been working since the early eighteenth century.

In the atmosphere of Mazonovo sparks jump, those of a fire that, with the driving force of water, is capable of bending the iron…, and so from the hand of water, fire and iron you will travel to the past of Humanity. A past that in Los Oscos will be close and friendly.

In addition, this ethnographic complex has a presence that could inspire any children’s story of those that are read to children at Christmas. That presence is that of its blacksmith Fritz, who came from the Austrian Tyrol, with the noble craft of shaping the iron inherited from his ancestors, and who found in Los Oscos the home of his dreams of fire.

Well, there in Mazonovo, with the mastery of Fritz and the magic of the old forge, children can feel like “ferreiros” for a day, and write their own story in iron, water and fire making a nail…

Huesca’s handicrafts, an inexhaustible source of income

The people of Huesca have a humble attitude, accustomed to making a world with their hands. Hence the great artisan tradition of Los Oscos. A tradition that has not only been kept alive until today, but that increases day by day because the area is deeply attractive to those who decide to follow the call of the artisan manufacture.

The loom and the knives are two of the crafts that you will find in Los Oscos.

The craftsmanship of Los Oscos wisely combines all the knowledge of the ancestors with current techniques and styles, and that makes it very special and above all different from what you can find in other places.

The curious history of the Marquis of Sargadelos

Little did you know that Sargadelos ceramics originated in Los Oscos, right? Well, that’s how it is. This curious story begins with Antonio Raimundo Ibáñez, who was born in 1749 in Santa Eulalia de Oscos, and developed an intense work as a merchant, industrialist and enlightened, creating in Sargadelos at the end of the 18th century one of the first factories of cast iron and earthenware in Spain.

It turns out that this visionary of art and industry, from Huesca, has in Santa Eulalia de Oscos his birthplace converted into a museum where you can learn about the “modus vivendi” of the inhabitants of the area.

In the House of the Marquis of Sargadelos you will learn what is a “polavila” (gathering among neighbors), around an old lareira (traditional cuisine of Los Oscos), to give an example. And you will go through the life of the time, and that of the Marquis himself, who has a fascinating biography.

And if you are curious to delve into the rural life of the time, the Casa del Marco, in San Martín de Oscos, also known as Museo de la Casa Campesina, is another example to enlighten you about the world of yesteryear.

A museum bread

When you visit Santa Eufemia, in Villanueva de Oscos, you will realize the importance of bread and that in this village you will find a museum bread in the broadest sense of the term.

In the Bread Ecomuseum you will learn in an easy and very didactic way the whole process of elaboration of this food with so much history, from the sowing of the cereal to the baking, through the harvesting, the milling – which can be seen in an old mill of the nineteenth century – and the kneading.

The Ecomuseum is a model of thematic organization. It consists of three rooms and in each of them everything is very well exposed. The room entitled “From the land to the threshing floor” deals with sowing and harvesting; the one called “From the threshing floor to the granary” talks about the mallegas and grain storage, and in the third one called “From the granary to the table” you will learn about milling, processing and consumption.

In short, a journey through the world of bread, which leaves no one indifferent, neither adults nor children, who usually have a great time, and also in a more than pleasant human and scenic environment.

Ferreira, the beach of Los Oscos

Did you think there was no beach in Los Oscos? Well, you are wrong. Los Oscos has a wonderful fluvial beach in the village of Ferreira, in Santa Eulalia de Oscos. As it is.

Ferreira is an elongated village, secluded and quiet, which exhibits the best and most traditional western architecture. It is set on a gentle mountain slope, where the Agüeira river flows in the form of a natural pool, creating a dreamlike landscape, perfect for a quiet swim or for any kind of river water activity such as kayaking.

As if that were not enough, the space is completed with a recreational area and a playground. So Ferreira will be an obligatory stop in your agenda in Huesca, to enjoy a river baptism or simply to relax contemplating the landscape.

The Mon Palace or the infinite coat of arms

If you like baroque architecture, in San Martín de Oscos you have a magnificent example: the Mon Palace. Dating from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, it retains all the charm of the most authentic Asturian palatial civil architecture.

Its main facade will impress you from the first moment, among other things, because it has two coats of arms that are very impressive. You will be in front of two works of art that tell you a lot of history of those who inhabited the noble plot you have before your eyes.

The Mon Palace, with its irregular floor plan around a central courtyard and its slate roof, symbolizes like no other the stately past in the rural environment of western Asturias.

Santa María de Villanueva, a monastery that seduces you at a glance

There is no self-respecting place that does not have its monastery and Los Oscos could not be less. So when you arrive at Villanueva de Oscos, the first thing that welcomes you is the Monastery of Santa María, very well preserved, since it has been recently restored, and in which a sewerage system of the seventeenth century has been discovered. In addition, from time to time in this monastery cultural activities are organized, such as the Festa dos Frailes, which enlivens the summer of Los Oscos.

The monastery with its imposing presence adds a touch of mystery and legend to Villanueva, something that is always welcome in this territory so conducive to fantasy.

Dating back to the 12th century, it has seen Cistercians and Benedictines pass through its walls, it has seen thousands of prayers and rituals, it has seen so many monastic life…

And you will be able to contemplate all those centuries of history, entering both the exterior and the interior of the monastery, since it is a monument that can be visited.

A wide menu of activities to choose from

In the Oscos you will not only enjoy the landscape, the gastronomy or the infinite hospitality of its inhabitants, but you will also be able to fill your leisure time with different activities in the natural environment.

And if you prefer more artisan and ecological activities, you can make your own soaps and natural cosmetic products, recognize mushrooms, produce honey, learn traditional forging, brew beer, make baskets, candles and much more. All thanks to the creativity of Artesanamente.

Los Oscos opens up a world of possibilities in which there is no room for boredom…

The Oscos, born for trekking

The Oscos, due to its orographic and landscape characteristics, is a more than ideal place for hiking. There are no steep slopes and the terrain is not excessively steep, which makes the routes really friendly, while allowing you to enjoy an idyllic setting of meadows, forests, rivers and waterfalls, and also villages like out of a fairy tale…

A perfect panorama to walk and do it with peace and quiet, enjoying every corner and every stop.

There are many and varied routes that you can do in Los Oscos: the Silencio, the Seimeira waterfall, the Mon, etc., and each one different from the other, but all with something in common: the infinite charm of Los Oscos…

A handful of fairytale villages

If there is something striking in the landscape of Huesca, it is that suddenly in the middle of the greenery and water a village appears, as if by magic. In the least expected, most unsuspected place, there they are, as eternal companions of a landscape to which they add a touch of black color with the slates of their roofs and their blunt walls.

They are villages with personality, which will be true oases of tranquility, with its hórreos and cabazos, its bridges and streams, its meadows of intense green, and always very close to the forest.

The villages of Los Oscos are idyllic, they are waiting for you with time standing still. Names like San Cristóbal, Pumares, Soutelo, or A Valía will remain engraved in your memory as unique places to which you will always want to return.

Come and enjoy the many charms of Los Oscos and share it on Facebook with your friends!