Village
Puerto Castilla is a village in the comarca of El Barco de Ávila-Piedrahíta, in the sub-comarca of Alto Tormes, situated between the Sierra del Tremedal and the Sierra de la Nava, within the Sierra de Gredos regional park; within its territory lies the Laguna del Barco, of glacial origin, and nearby, the Puerto de Tornavacas, the boundary with Extremadura. With around a hundred inhabitants, it includes the settlement of Santiago de Aravalle, whose church is from the 15th century and celebrates the feast of Santiago Apóstol on 25 July. Puerto Castilla also holds the Feria de San Miguel, on 29 September.
Monument
In the settlement of Santiago de Aravalle, this 15th-century church was the mother church of the parish and was declared a monument on 18 December 1981. Its tower is the visual landmark of the floor of the Aravalle valley.
Monument
Madoz's dictionary already cited these two fountains in the middle of the 19th century as the water supply of Santiago de Aravalle, a settlement that then gathered half a hundred households and today does not reach thirty.
Monument
In its nine kilometres of course the Aravalle is crossed by nine bridges until it flows into the Tormes at the bridge of Las Aceñas; the first of them crosses the newly born river in this district of the upper valley.
Nature
A lagoon of glacial origin, also called the Galín Gómez lagoon, situated at 1,790 metres in an extensive valley in the western sector of Gredos, one of the three that open on the north face of La Covacha, the highest point of that part of the range at 2,399 metres. It drains through the Galín Gómez gorge towards that of los Caballeros, a tributary of the Tormes, and its natural outlet was dammed to increase its capacity as a reservoir; camping is not permitted in the area.
Nature
The Aravalle rises in the foothills of the cuerda de los Asperones and the risco de la Campana, at 2,093 metres, within this district, and belongs to the Duero basin. After nine kilometres, crossed by as many bridges, it flows into the left bank of the Tormes at the puente de las Aceñas; the garganta de la Solana, much frequented by whitewater kayaking during the thaw, is its main tributary. Its course is dotted with dams and irrigation channels that water the meadows along its banks, and it preserves an old, almost ruined mill in its upper stretch. In 2013 the La Retuerta dam was demolished, which helped restore the river's ecological value.
Nature
The municipality spans a difference in height from 1,110 to 2,395 metres, all of it within the regional park of the Sierra de Gredos. That range explains why valley-floor gardens and high mountain pastures coexist in one and the same district.
Curiosity
That was the name under which Madoz's dictionary recorded it in the mid-nineteenth century, when it gathered 549 inhabitants between two sierras and beside the pass. Today the municipal register does not reach a hundred residents.
Curiosity
This small plain opening on the watershed served as a natural crossing towards the province of Cáceres, and through it the valley's goods came and went before the road fixed the present route.
Activity
The PR-AV 36 trail, some eleven kilometres long and with no technical difficulty, climbs the gorges of the northern slope to the glacial lake located in this municipal district, at 1,790 metres. Camping in the area is prohibited.
Historical milestone
The emperor crossed the col in 1556, at 1,275 meters, on his way to his retirement at Yuste, following the so-called imperial route. Through the same pass the transhumant flocks of the Honorable Council of the Mesta went down towards Extremadura.
Historical milestone
Madoz's dictionary (1845-1850) noted that the crossing between Castile and Extremadura was burdened with a toll whose proceeds went to the Duke of Frías, a sign that traffic over the col was abundant and profitable.
Food and drink
The terraces on the valley floor, sheltered from the wind by the hillsides, are among the high-altitude plots where the bean protected by the comarca's geographical indication is grown, alongside rye, potatoes and chickpeas.