Lastres – Llastres

Lastres: the origin of its name

The original name of the village is the title of its Blessed Virgin, which in this case is Santa María de Sábada. It has been argued that the name comes from the Latin Stabat, a type of anchor used by the ships to anchor; therefore there is speculation about the possibility that their small bay was a habitual anchorage of the Roman ships. That area extracted minerals and horses.

The first document that mentions the population is from 943, when King Ramiro II the Great gives a range of goods to the Basilica of San Salvador de Oviedo, including Sátava, then called Sábada. Village fishermen had to pay a tribute to this temple until the 17th century.

Lastres in the past

In 1557 the threat of enemy fleets motivated that urge people to fortify its port to hinder a possible landing. The military judge in the Indies and José Robledo finances between 1791 and 1794 the baroque church of San Roque.

El Carmen area, in Lastres, at the beginning of the 20th century

During the 17th century Lastres had an important fishing industry. Its catches were sold to Castile. The following century the local fleet expanded, with trading companies, warehouses and ships. These traded with England, Holland and France. However, maritime traffic was greatly affected by the destruction of the port caused by the sea at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century.

During the War of Independence, Lastres was one of the main ports for the supply of English arms and supplies to the Spanish troops. For this reason it was attacked and sacked in 1809 by General Bonet. He left a garrison that fortified the church and the outbuildings. From there it resisted the attacks of the guerrillas. In addition, the French managed to hinder the English landings.

Present day

In 2008, the television series Doctor Mateo and its shooting began in Lastres. It became very popular. The natural spaces of the council of Colunga enhanced the atmosphere of the production, making the town one of the main tourist destinations in Asturias.

A place on a slope

Its steep streets are lined with interesting houses emblazoned palaces of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, churches, fountains and chapels of popular character.

The whole town seems subject to the designs of the difficult terrain. Ground adaptation is largely responsible for the uniqueness of Lastres, which is located on a steep slope that forces its streets to follow particularly irregular shape, the slope of which leads to the port with staggered sections. Therefore, Ballasts has been declared a Historical Site.

Most important sites

The Chapel of San Roque is one of the main buildings to see in Lastres. It is located in a beautiful bay window and has a small Baroque altarpiece of 1619. Also interesting is the Church of Santa Maria de Sábada (eighteenth century) that preserves two altarpieces of the brothers Lopez Acevedo, and the Renaissance image of the “Crucified” carving wood.

Between the houses and urban palaces, include all the houses in the quarter of La Fontana, the Palace of the Victorero (S. XVIII, a “rural” baroque), or the House of Colunga, whose weapons serve heraldry He teaches Council. In Lastres also highlights the Clock Tower, possibly built in the eighteenth century on the foundations of another of the fifteenth century. In addition, there are two interesting chapels Lastres sixteenth century (of Good Success and San Jose).

Chapel of San Roque in Lastres

The visitor can not leave the council without knowing the Jurassic Museum (Muja). This place is located in a coastal platform (Rasa de San Telmo), between the towns of Colunga and Lastres, in a privileged environment from which you can enjoy an exceptional view of the Cantabrian Sea and the fishing port of Lastres, the Sierra del Sueve around noon, and the Picos de Europa to the east. The museum was opened in 2004, and in it the findings of fossils of dinosaur footprints found in eastern Asturias shown. The exhibition spaces show replicas of several types of these great jurassic animals while interactively, with time as a thread, the secrets of those who lived in this area of Asturias are explained.