Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in San Emiliano

What to see and do in San Emiliano (La Montaña de Luna, León): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Curiosities

How far each place is from the centre of San Emiliano

Peña Ubiña 6.4 km

Towns near San Emiliano

What to see in Sena de Luna 6.1 km · 5 places
What to see in Cabrillanes 12 km · 7 places
What to see in Los Barrios de Luna 18 km · 7 places
What to see in Quirós 20 km · 3 places
What to see in Murias de Paredes 21 km · 8 places
What to see in Lena 21 km · 24 places
What to see in Teverga 22 km · 3 places
What to see in Riello 23 km · 7 places

Spain › Castile and León › León › La Montaña de Luna › San Emiliano

What to see and do in San Emiliano

San Emiliano
Village
San Emiliano is a municipality in the comarca of Babia, in the province of León, situated at 1,180 metres of altitude and 73 kilometres from the capital. It borders Asturias to the north —with the councils of Lena, Quirós, Teverga and Somiedo— and groups fourteen livestock-farming villages linked to transhumance, which traditionally crossed toward the Asturian pastures through the Ventana pass. Here the patsuezu survives, a variety of Leonese also spoken in the neighbouring comarcas of Laciana and Luna, characterised by the palatalisation of the Latin l- and -ll- into the sound known as che vaqueira. It has about 585 inhabitants.
Palace of los Quiñones de Riolago de Babia
Monument
Raised in the sixteenth century, it is the finest example of civil architecture in the western León mountains; saved from ruin by the restoration promoted by the local resident Fernando Geijo, it houses today the Babia and Luna Park House.
Church of San Salvador y ermita del Cristo de la Puente
Monument
Besides the palace, Riolago de Babia gathers the parish church of San Salvador, the hermitage of the Cristo de la Puente and the chapel of the Casa del Escribano, an unusual ensemble in a high mountain village.
Peña Ubiña
Nature
At 2,417 metres, it is one of the highest mountains in the Cantabrian range and, together with the Fontán Sur, the leading peak of the Ubiña massif, located on the watershed between the Asturian council of Lena and the León municipality of San Emiliano, between Babia and Asturias, visible from almost every village in the municipality. In a 1992 survey by the newspaper La Nueva España among mountain people of the Principality, Peña Ubiña was considered the second most beautiful Asturian mountain, behind only the Picu Urriellu.
Ascent of Peña Ubiña from Babia
Activity
The high pastures of San Emiliano are the classic way into the Ubiña massif: a climb over high meadows and limestone scree that crosses the brañas where Asturian flocks still spend the summer.
The Puerto de Ventana and the crossing of the vaqueiros
Curiosity
For centuries the vaqueiros have crossed the Ventana pass with their herds between Asturias and Babia; the custom is still alive and Asturian livestock continues to use the municipality's pastures in summer.
The expression "estar en Babia" (to be daydreaming)
Curiosity
The Castilian saying that means to be distracted has its origin here, although the legend of the León kings retiring to these valleys has no documentary proof; Quevedo is among the first writers to have used it.