At Pozo de las Paredes, granite walls frame a pool, with a recreation area beside it. Navacepeda de Tormes also has sacred cultural heritage: the Iglesia de la Natividad de San Juan Bautista houses a polychrome image of the Virgin Mary. When planning your trip, you can therefore consider both the landscape and trails, as well as local traditions.

Navacepeda de Tormes is among the villages listed in the Sierra de Gredos Regional Park. One local tradition is Día de rodar el huevo, held on 1 May. If you would like to plan your visit around it, check the specific event details before travelling.

Pozo de las Paredes, the bridge and trails

The pool at Pozo de las Paredes is enclosed by granite walls, with a recreation area alongside it. Another notable structure there is the Romanesque bridge. The long-distance GR-10 trail passes about one kilometre from this bridge. This distance refers to the trail’s location relative to the bridge, not to walking time.

The Ruta a los Majanillos passes over the bridge at Pozo de las Paredes and by the adjoining recreation area. After about 1,700 metres, it reaches Fuente de los Majanillos. The two trail references mentioned here are therefore distinct: the roughly one kilometre describes the GR-10’s location relative to the bridge, while the approximately 1,700 metres refers to the Ruta a los Majanillos and its destination at the spring.

From Navacepeda de Tormes, it is possible to ascend to Gredos via Barbellido. This adds another connection to the landscape alongside the specific waypoints at Pozo. Which option you focus on depends on whether you plan to take the long-distance trail, the route to the Majanillos or the ascent to Gredos.

A description published on 15 February 2023 mentions a paved road from Navacepeda de Tormes to the AV-931 at kilometre 7.5, near the Las Juntas bridge over the Barbellido River. Local access rules may change; check them before setting out.

Sacred art and local tradition

The Iglesia de la Natividad de San Juan Bautista houses a polychrome depiction of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. It is venerated as the Virgen de la Antigua and is considered the patron saint of the village. Polychrome describes the figure’s use of colour; the Virgin is depicted seated.

The Virgen de la Antigua is of the type of Romanesque Marian figure dating to the 12th century. This classification describes a type of figure and does not establish an exact year of creation. Those interested in religious art can consider the Marian figure both for its depiction and its stylistic classification.

Another work in the church is a polychrome Baroque sculpture of John the Baptist in the central niche. There is also a bear’s paw, whose radiocarbon dating indicates an age of about 350 years before the reference year 1950, with a margin of error of 40 years. The dating is thus explicitly relative to 1950, not to the present day.

Ernest Hemingway also mentions a bear’s paw on a church door in his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. It is considered likely that this passage is connected to the local tradition associated with the church, but this remains an interpretation. The literary reference and the radiocarbon dating are two different ways of approaching this unusual motif.

Choose accommodation based on the purpose of your trip

When looking for a holiday rental, you can first decide what you want your stay to focus on: the landscape around Pozo de las Paredes, one of the trails described, or sacred art and tradition. This keeps your choice centred on your interests without combining the different destinations into a fixed itinerary.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Pedro Bernardo, Santo Tomé De Zabarcos, Muñico, Salobral, Blacha, Riofrío, Navarredonda De Gredos, Fresnedilla.

For the broader travel overview: Avila.