Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Guisando

What to see and do in Guisando (Arenas de San Pedro, Ávila): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Guisando

Los Galayos 6.2 km

Towns near Guisando

What to see in El Hornillo 4.3 km · 3 places
What to see in Arenas de San Pedro 4.4 km · 6 places
What to see in Poyales del Hoyo 5.7 km · 3 places
What to see in El Arenal 6.5 km · 3 places
What to see in Mombeltrán 11 km · 4 places
What to see in Candeleda 11 km · 6 places
What to see in Santa Cruz del Valle 12 km · 3 places
What to see in Cuevas del Valle 14 km · 4 places

Spain › Castile and León › Ávila › Arenas de San Pedro › Guisando

What to see and do in Guisando

Guisando
Village
A town in the comarca of Arenas de San Pedro, in Ávila, set on the southern face of the sierra de Gredos, at 760 m above sea level, with a climate of mild winters and very high rainfall; it has about 458 inhabitants, known as guisanderos. The place name already appears in 1274, on a drove road, and the Libro de la Montería of Alfonso XI mentions, in the 14th century, the abundance of bears in the garganta de Guisando. It was a hamlet of the Señorío de Arenas until 1760, when, under Charles III, it broke away from Arenas de San Pedro to become a town. Its old quarter, of whitewashed houses with chimneys, balconies and white façades set into the landscape, was declared a historic-artistic ensemble in 1976. It looks out over the garganta del Pelayo, at the foot of the Cuerda de los Galayos.
Los Galayos
Nature
Los Galayos, also called El Galayar, are a group of granite pinnacles between 2,000 and 2,200 metres high on the southern slope of the Sierra de Gredos, in the province of Ávila, right above the village of Guisando, between that municipality and El Hornillo. Their name comes from an Arabic word meaning bare rock rising on a mountain. The most emblematic peak is El Torreón, an isolated vertical pillar over two thousand metres high, first climbed in 1933 by Teógenes Díaz and Ricardo Rubio; in 1947 a woman, Angelines Aguerralde, climbed it for the first time. It is a classic site of Spanish rock climbing: by 1981, 210 routes had already been catalogued, opened mostly after the Victory refuge was built in 1949.
The Walnut Tree of El Barranco
Nature
An esplanade at 1,260 metres at the mouth of the gorge of Los Galayos, with a spring, a refuge and a monument to the Spanish ibex. It is the gateway to the regional park and the start of the climb to La Mira and to the Victory refuge.
The Victory refuge and climbing in Los Galayos
Activity
The Real Sociedad Española de Alpinismo Peñalara raised this refuge in 1949 at 1,995 metres, at the foot of the needles, and named it after Antonio Victory. It is reached after seven kilometres and 900 metres of ascent from the Nogal del Barranco.
The town charter of Guisando
Historical milestone
Carlos III granted the title of villa to the place on that day, until then dependent on the lordship of Arenas de San Pedro; the stone column of the village commemorates the separation. It then had 441 inhabitants and 588 in 1782.
The first ascent of the Torreón de los Galayos
Historical milestone
Teógenes Díaz and Ricardo Rubio topped that year the most emblematic granite column of the massif. The building of the Victory refuge in 1949 set off the opening of routes: by 1981 210 had already been catalogued in the group.