Iglesia San Xuan Inglés - ayto-grado
Church of San Juan and the Medieval Bridge of Peñaflor
The church of San Juan is located along the route of the Camino de Santiago. Originally it was a rural Romanic place of worship which offered rights to asylum and was very likely connected to the pilgrim hospital of the area.
It had many renovations during the 18th and 19th centuries but the church still preserves some Romanic details and proportions in its structure, specifically the archivolt on the main façade, the arch of triumph with columns of decorated capitals and some modillions.
This is a temple with a single arched nave and a square apse. Along with this apse, there is an added square feature with ashlars of pink stone and a lateral porch. The bell gable is formed of a double arch.
The Bridge of Peñaflor is an artistic construction of the highest order because of its antiquity and its elegant strength. The first construction dates to the 12th century and it has been rebuilt on multiple occasions due to floods, some of which were very devastating such as the floods of 1586 and 1756. The bridge has a high historic value. On one hand, the bridge is the entrance of the Camino de Santiago to the council of Grado and on the other, is the location of a very important battle in which soldiers and civilians, under the orders of Gregorio Jove-Valdés, fought against the advancing troops of Napoleon in 1808.
This bridge was also the literary protagonist in the adventures of the roguish Gil Blas de Santillana, whose second chapter of his adventures is based at the inn of Peñaflor.
The bridge is an impressive rocky construction with five large unequal ashlar arches, thick cutwaters and a timeless and irregular aspect as a result of different reconstructions that gives the bridge an attractive picturesqueness.
This complex holds high historic and artistic interest and is completed by a singular ensemble of raised granaries called horreos and paneras, typical from the area and aligned with the main road N-634.