This path recalls the legend of The Count's Revenge, deeply rooted in La Pernía.
The legend, set in medieval times, features Count Munio, Countess Elvira, and a deaf-mute servant who miraculously began to speak. It probably originated to explain the name of the town of San Salvador de Cantamuda, and was compiled and published in the form of a ballad in 1871 by the politician and jurist Matías Barrio y Mier, born in the town of Verdeña in Palencia.
The route links the scenes narrated in the legend, through places worthy of a story, between San Salvador de Cantamuda and Peña Tremaya.
Starting the route in San Salvador de Cantamuda, very close to the Romanesque collegiate church and the medieval bridge over the Pisuerga River, the path crosses the CL-627 highway near Venta Campa and ascends gently at first through hay meadows, before entering the Matacastillo oak grove along an old wagon track. Leaving the oak grove, the rocky slope of Peña Tremaya opens up. Crossing a meadow and skirting the limestone cliffs, a final, slightly steeper climb leads to the area where Count Munio's Castle is supposedly located.
Later, a path runs along the northern slope of the rock (caution in this section during winter and early spring due to the possible presence of ice and snow) to culminate in the Legend Lookout.
The Mirador de la Leyenda offers a fantastic panoramic view of the mountainous surroundings of La Pernía. Several villages can be seen, surrounded by meadows, forests, and crags. Areños and Los Llazos appear in the foreground, the Valle de los Redondos is bordered by the Peña Labra mountain range, and to the north, some peaks of the Picos de Europa and the Peña Sagra mountain range, already in Cantabria, also appear.
Next to the viewpoint, the sculpture of Countess Doña Elvira, the deaf-mute maid, and the mule has been installed as a tribute to the legend, at the spot where they are said to have begun their rugged descent down the rock.
From here, anyone who wishes can continue to the summit of Peña Tremaya, overcoming a final stretch of steeper slope that is now unmarked.
The return journey follows the same path for 450 m, then descends through grasslands and broom thickets toward the San Roque Strait, a beautiful wooded area with sessile oaks, holly oaks, hazel trees, and holly. After passing through the wide open plain of Collaín de la Corte, with views of Peña Tremaya and the Pradanchos meadows, take a track that heads toward San Salvador. One kilometer before the village, to the left of the path, you can see the remains of a lime kiln, a testament to one of the lost trades in the area.
Finally, you pass the “Fuentes de Lebanza” water bottling plant and cross the road via an underpass, returning to San Salvador de Cantamuda.
Legend has it that a long time ago, in Peña Tremaya, Count Munio lived in a castle with his young wife Doña Elvira.
One cold winter night, the count, doubting his wife's fidelity, decided to expel her from the castle, giving her a lame, blind mule to carry her belongings and a deaf-mute maid as a companion, ultimately hoping to send them both tumbling down the cliff. But they managed to escape, and after praying to God and the Virgin, the two women and the mule made it to the nearby village.
Surprisingly, on the bridge leading into the town, the deaf-mute maid began to speak, telling the local people gathered there about the injustice committed by her master.
Thus, San Salvador de Tremaya, as the town was called, changed its surname to Cantamuda, because it was the place where the mute sang.
It is also said that in gratitude for her salvation, Countess Elvira ordered the construction of the church of San Salvador, where she chose to be buried.
* El Ayuntamiento de La Pernía no se hace responsable de posibles accidentes durante la realización de esta u otras rutas de senderismo en el municipio.
