Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Otero de Bodas

What to see and do in Otero de Bodas (La Carballeda, Zamora): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 2 Nature · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Otero de Bodas

The Muelo de la Vieja 1.1 km

Towns near Otero de Bodas

Spain › Castile and León › Zamora › La Carballeda › Otero de Bodas

What to see and do in Otero de Bodas

Otero de Bodas
Village
Otero de Bodas is a village of 164 inhabitants with the hamlet of Val de Santa María attached, in the Zamoran comarca of La Carballeda, 31 kilometres from Puebla de Sanabria. Its name refers to the Muelo de la Vieja, the emblematic hill that overlooks the town, which turns purple at flowering time, where the so-called footprint of Santiago's horse is found, a horseshoe-shaped mark in the rock that legend attributes to the apostle's horse. The second part of the place name recalls the legend of a knight cursed for dishonouring a lady, condemned to find pleasure only on his wedding night. Its church of Santiago preserves elements from the 12th century alongside others from the 15th and 16th, and along the foot of the Muelo ran the Roman road that linked Braga with Astorga.
The church of Santiago Apóstol de Otero de Bodas
Monument
It preserves elements of the twelfth century alongside additions of the fifteenth and sixteenth, and is the main building of a centre where stone and adobe predominate; it gives its name to the main festival at the end of July.
The Muelo de la Vieja
Nature
An isolated hill that rises above the municipal district, covered with purple-flowered plants, from which the entrance to the Sierra de la Culebra is dominated; it is the landscape and legendary landmark of the municipality.
The wolf of the regional reserve
Nature
The municipal district of Otero de Bodas lies within the Sierra de la Culebra, declared a national hunting reserve under Law 2/1973 and a regional reserve since 1996, one of the best places in western Europe to track and observe the Iberian wolf. The designation affects, wholly or in part, twelve municipal districts and 41 population centres in the province of Zamora. Of its area, around 70% is municipally owned, 25% is private, and the rest belongs to public administrations, among them the Junta de Castilla y León.
The hoofprint of Santiago's horse
Curiosity
On the rock of the Muelo a mark in the shape of a horseshoe is shown that tradition attributes to the horse of the apostle Santiago, patron of the village, who according to the story is said to have leapt from the top of the hill.
The passage of Theodoric II towards Braganza
Historical milestone
In the year 456 the Visigothic troops of Teodorico II crossed the municipal area of Otero de Bodas on their way to Braganza; the Roman road XVII linking Bracara Augusta with Asturica Augusta also ran through here.
The venison of the mountains
Food and drink
The red deer restocked in 1973 within the hunting reserve supplies the venison stews of the villages around the Culebra, which are completed with the mushrooms that Pyrenean oak and pine woods give in autumn.