EL FREISNU

Location: El Freisnu (Google Maps). 

How to get there by car: from the town of Grau/Grado, take the N-634 road to Cabruñana. Once there, take the local road down to El Freisnu (9 km aprox). On foot: from the town of Grau/Grado, follow the Way of Saint James (4,7 km aprox). By regular bus services: take the bus "Oviedo - Grau/Grado - Cangas de Narcea" and stop at Cabruñana. Walk 2 km from Cabruñana to El Freisnu.

One of our most mysterious and emblematic spots in the area is El Freisnu. It overlooks the Cubia and Narcea valleys, having breath-taking views when the sky is clear, and is crossed by the Way of St. James, so it is not surprising that it has been a place of great devotion since ancient times.  

The sanctuary we see today, dedicated to “Virgen del Fresno”, was built in the 17th and 18th centuries. There was at least another, older temple where the cemetery stands today. Everything indicates that it has probably been a sacred place since ancient times, not only because of its geographical location, but also because it is associated with a tree, like so many parish churches built next to yews or holly trees to Christianise pagan places of worship. It is famous for its novena, in the month of September, which is attended by many worshippers. Next to the church, an ancient cross can be seen dominating the valley behind it. 

How to visit the sanctuary: when there are church services (Sundays at 11 am). If it is closed, you can see the Virgin of El Fresno looking through a small window located in a side door.

As a witness to the mystery of the place, there is a legend, recorded by Álvaro Fernández de Miranda in “Grado y su concejo (1907)”.

In the annals (concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year) of El Fresno, there is a recorded story of a nereid, fairy, undine, xana or something like that, a local enchantment, who gave into the strange whim of tasting her lover, unexpectedly releasing a snake and also a fire bull, from whose beasts the gallant fled, naturally, terrified. The lady, indignant, scorned him, leaving never to return and causing the lover despair, who died of grief, cursing his cowardice.