Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the "Monte Santiago" Visitors’ Centre

Just like the rest of the park visitors’ centres, all throughout the region of Castilla and León, this is the recommended access point for these nature areas. At this information centre, monitors will provide information about the Nature Reserve and help you to plan your visit.

Here, you can find information about the signature species and their habitats, to help their identification and conservation. There is also information on the cultural, natural and ethnographic heritage, to allow you to enjoy it in a respectful way. It promotes the conservation and appreciation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

Go down a narrow hallway to the reception area. Here, there is a sculpture of a monk’s habit, including the hood. At the reception display, you can find information leaflets on local fauna, a map of the nature park and details about symbolic places in Las Merindades, such as Salto Nervión, Peña Ladros, Villasana de Mena and Ojo Guareña, among others.

In the first space, there is a metal sculpture of a hooded monk near the window overlooking the patio. The interior patio shows a representation of typical fauna at the spring, with newts, frogs, toads and salamanders.

An spring is where subterranean water comes up to the surface of the earth. These are natural springs where water which has filtered into the ground, comes up to the surface. Springs come in various forms, such as natural springs, brooks, or even small lakes filled with subterranean water.

In the first room, panels narrate the history of this place.

Beside the window there is a wooden bench where you can have a rest. In the middle of the room, there is a brown metal sculpture of a hooded monk.

The narrative transports you to the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 90 million years ago. During this period, this area was totally underwater, inhabited by crustaceans, molluscs and corals whose shells and exoskeletons were made of calcium carbonate. When they died, their remains accumulated on the sea bed. As the organic matter decomposed, the shells and exoskeletons, made of calcium carbonate, were compressed by the pressure of the water, turning them into limestone which can now be found in Monte Santiago. Between the stones that make up the wall of the room, you can see some ammonoid fossils.

The first panel has a drawing which represents extinct animals along with information about 150,000 years ago. Making a big leap in history, it comes to the end of the last glaciation, a period when Europe was covered by an extensive layer of snow. The scarcity of food meant that herbivores and larger carnivores that relied on them could not survive. On Monte Santiago, they have discovered remains of cave bears, aurochs, cave lions and other animals which have since gone extinct.

Cave bears were enormous mammals which adapted to cold climates and were well-equipped to live in caves, where they took refuge during hibernation. Cave bears were herbivores and mainly ate plants, fruit and grasses.

Aurochs were also known as wild bulls, and they were an old species of cattle. They were herbivores and an integral part of the ecosystems where they lived. However, the domestication of aurochs led to the development of modern domesticated livestock, and the wild species became extinct in the wild in the 17th century.

Cave lions are an extinct sub-species of lion, that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene period. They were carnivores and adapted to hunt large mammals, such as bison and horses, which were common during this period.

The right section of this panel shows illustrations and information from 5000 and 2000 years ago.

During the Neolithic period, the area did not have permanent human settlements, but it did host nomadic tribes who lived temporarily in caves while they hunted. In these caves they have found remains of funerals, ceramics and carved flint objects which are evidence of the human presence in the region.

There has not been exhaustive study on the Iron and Bronze Ages, but some authors suggest the presence of burial mounds in Berberana which have not been excavated.

A leap in time brings you to the Roman period, when the area was totally romanised. Near Orduña, there was a prominent Roman military camp, and in Valle de Losa, there was an important Roman road crossing through Berberana, connecting Óbriga to Flaviobriga, which is today Castro Urdiales. In Monte Santiago, there are references to this road, like the towns "The road" and "The little road".

At the Monte Santiago natural monument, Roman presence has been found, linked to the decuria from the nearby military camp which explored possible mineral findings in a cave. They carried out various samples and didn’t find anything of value, they killed time by drawing graffiti on the walls with rocks. One of them says, "Nicolavo was here with 10 men at the end of October in consular year 235", while another expressed fear that one of those mean would "go further".

Continue on to the next panel.

The timeline moves up to the medieval period. In the surrounding areas, there is a small town called Valpuesta, which, in the 8th century, became very important when King Alfonso II of Asturias was dethroned and exiled.

When he arrived here with his tutor, who was a bishop, he found a small religious building almost in ruins in Valpuesta, and he decided to establish his Ceremonial of Bishops there. During this period, a large part of the Iberian peninsula was under Arab occupation and they were reclaiming territory. One of the key strategies for re-population consisted in the creation of small monasteries and churches to grant religious council to those in the area.

The true relevance of Valpuesta lies in the monks who shared their lives with the bishop, who kept meticulous records of day to day life in the monastery. They acted as "notaries" and documented things like purchases, sales, meetings, donations and disputes. At the beginning of the 9th century, they wrote in Latin, the cultured language at the time. However, in places like this, they started to manage things in a new language: Medieval Spanish.

The rest of the population already used this variety of Latin, and the monks who lived alongside them also spoke this romance language. That meant that they used Medieval Spanish in their day to day lives and resorted to Latin for their writings. Although the records started in Latin and maintained their written syntax, when they couldn’t remember a word, it was substituted with the equivalent in Spanish. Thus the first words were written in Medieval Spanish, with the first written word being "kaballos". Over time, errors became more frequent and by the start of the 12th century both the language and syntax of the writings turned into Medieval Spanish.

The re-population panel has a text in Medieval Spanish which is intelligible for any reader who speaks Spanish.

For years these documents were hidden behind the organ pipes and so they were saved from being destroyed. The church was occupied by Napoleonic troops and anything that could be was burned for heat. In the middle of last century, some linguists started to assert that the first words written in Spanish were not in San Millán de la Cogolla, that they were in Valpuesta. In fact, these writings are almost 150 years older than those found in San Millán.

A network of monasteries was established and in the Monte Santiago area the Santiago de Langreriz monastery was constructed. This small monastery was built to host pilgrims on their way to Compostela.

In order to avoid Arabs, the pilgrims looked for alternative routes, like the so-called hidden or forgotten route along the Cantabrian Mountains. They crossed the border between France and the Basque Country, they made their way to the region and split up: Some went towards Valpuesta and others travelled through the whole of Sopeña until they came to the Mena Valley. From there they climbed the whole meseta and continued on to Compostela. The journey was arduous and the monastery was built as a rest point for the journey to Valpuesta.

The monastery was founded by Lope Sánchez, a military leader from Corona de Navarra. It was used until the territory was won back from the Arabs and the main route to Santiago was liberated. The pilgrims abandoned this difficult route, preferring the old one with better facilities and a more favourable topography.

The monks who lived here left, the buildings fell into ruin and only the church survived, turning into a hermitage.

When the Nature Park was formed, they excavated to exhibit the foundations of the buildings. They recovered some pieces of the old monastery in a poor state, including two capitals found in the Santiago spring. Although they are deteriorated, you can still see part of the carving of a bird and human figures with raised hands.

Go to the next panel.

The next panel is a ceramic panel with low relief which aims to represent the Nature Park in an idealised way. The popular architectural constructions stand out, the amphibians are one of the most important elements to be protected, as well as the forests and the mountain pastures.

In the middle of the picture there is a subterranean cut-out of the subsoil of Monte Santiago, where there are hills, vertical caves, subterranean rivers and caves.

Along the longitudinal cut, the Monte Santiago wolf territory stands out. It is an important ethnographic element of the area, possibly used since prehistoric times to hunt wolves.

They represent cliffs of the Salvada mountain range where the Nervión river descends the meseta to the Délica valley.

Now go to the panel which gives access to the next room.

This Nature Park is located in two small municipalities, Berberana and Villalba de Losa, whose main activity has been and still is agriculture and livestock.

The photographs represent daily life for residents of the area, showing a couple of yoked oxen, a family feeding a flock of sheep, and examples of local architecture, which is mainly based on limestone masonry, the natural stone in the area.

There has always been a fierce fight between man and wolf. In this area, they created wolf traps where wolves were hunted in drives. A photo shows the last two wolves hunted in the Santiago wolf trap in 1955. It was already in a poor state and they started to use poison to hunt wolves. They put strychnine in pieces of meat and distributed it around the mountain.

Wolves disappeared almost all over Spain. When poison was banned, the wolf population began to recover. Wolves are territorial animals that live in packs, and each pack has its own territory. In the last decades of the 20th century, some specimen started to return to the mountains where, after such a long time without wolves, the heated fight between man and wolf resumed. About three years ago, wolves were declared as a protected species. Measures and support need to be adopted in order for the wolf population to survive, however shepherds and small towns whose main income comes from extensive livestock also need to be able to survive.

Use the gap between the wall and the glass to go to the next room.

The second room is dedicated to the natural environment influenced by the special climate in the region.

The area is on the Meseta Central, near the Cantabrian sea, creating a mix between the Atlantic and Mediterranean climates. The vegetation adjusts to these conditions, given that in the highest areas, Atlantic vegetation dominates, with beech trees, hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple and holly. Meanwhile in the sunny and lower areas, there is Mediterranean vegetation, such as holm oak, oak, European red pine, which are the most typical and abundant species.

In the Salvada mountains, there is a meteorological phenomenon, known locally as "The Orduña bun". This phenomenon is essentially a combination of two factors: one is the foehn effect, which is produced when a warm and humid current of air, with a huge mass of water, meets a geographical obstacle. In this case the obstacle is the Sálvada mountains, and as it goes up towards the meseta, the temperature drops and the moisture condenses, forming a dense cloud which looks like a "bun" on top of the mountain. Simultaneously, from high and cold heights, a current comes down from the Meseta Central. When this cold current comes to a depression in the land, the cold air falls due to its higher density, causing the currents to clash. The warm current pushes air upwards, while the cold current pushes it down, creating a whirlwind where it seems like the "bun" rushes through the cliffs like a fog waterfall.

The amphibians in Monte Santiago are at risk of extinction.

The Pyrenean frog is an example, which usually come out in the middle of winter to lay their eggs in a pond on Monte Santiago. Years ago, it was common to find dozens of specimen, but nowadays, at the same time of year, you have to really look at them.

It is the same case with salamanders. They used to come to the ponds in May and June, and in the last three years it is difficult to find them.

Fortunately, you can find different types of toads, such as the common toad and the common midwife toad, named because the male carries the eggs until they hatch. There are also Pyrenean frogs, with the most numerous being the grass frog, and other species such as the Iberian waterfrog and agile frog. The agile frog is endemic in and in Nervión, it is difficult to find in Monte Santiago.

With this diversity there are different types of newts, such as the alpine newt, the marbled newt and the palmate newt.

Finally, you can find the fire salamander, a species with a gestation period of 2 years. They are ovoviviparous, with fertilisation, they form embryos and give birth. One of their characteristics is their intrauterine cannibalism, as they start to develop various embryos and, if there is not enough food, they eat each them, with only the strongest one surviving.

Continue on to the next panel.

The next panel shows another reason why Monte Santiago is protected: the karstic landscape.

This centre is on an anticlinal, where the Salvada mountain outcrop was formed, with an almost perpendicular drop and a gentle slope which descends to the syncline, the Losa valley.

Kasrtic phenomenon are studied here, where the surface is covered in limestone pavements, as well as springs, sinkholes, and erosion sinkholes.

Santiago spring was a subterranean river, but it flooded part of the land, leaving part of it exposed. This created a sinkhole where the Santiago spring starts, where water surfaces, and a few metres down goes back underground via the Santiago spring sinkhole.

Karst is a phenomenon which mainly happens in areas with soluble rocks, such as limestone, through a process called karstic weathering. The karst formation involves chemical dissolving of rock by subterranean water with carbon dioxide. When rain water absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, it turns into carbonic acid, which reacts with the calcium carbonate in the limestone. This process created calcium bicarbonate, which is soluble in water and gradually dissolves the rock. Over time, cracks and cavities get bigger, forming distinctive characteristics like sinkholes, limestone pavements and caves. This chemical process is reversible and sometimes the calcium bicarbonate dissolved in water rains down as carbonate, which creates stalactites, stalagmites, columns and many other karstic formations found in the caves.

Karst is known for its unique topography and is found in different regions throughout the world, contributing to the creation of spectacular landscapes and complex subterranean systems.

This panel also shows a photo of one of the most renowned locations on Monte Santiago, the Nervión waterfall, the highest waterfall in Spain with a 220 metre freefall. To enjoy this spectacle, continuous rain is needed in the area, from 25 to 30 litres per metre squared. This allows the karst to become saturated in water and it ends up spilling over into an impressive waterfall. However, after a few days the water level starts to go down and it goes back to exclusively circulating in the subterranean rivers.

Go to the next panel.

It is difficult to see certain species here, except for some, like the robin which tends to be friendly.

In the region’s forests, there are mammals like wild boar, foxes, wolves and pine marten. There are also amphibians, cave-dwelling fauna and birds, in particular mountain birds.

The most symbolic bird is the griffon vulture, with around 183 pairs on the Salvada mountains. The Nervión canyon is one of their favourite areas due to the rising currents which they use to gain height with little effort and travel in search of food.

Other birds include the peregrine falcon, crag martin and Egyptian vulture. The Egyptian vulture is a migratory bird but its presence here has increased due to climate change. Currently, there are four establishes Egyptian vulture pairs in this region.

Go to the second panel.

The next panel is about vegetation in the area.

There are different fungi in this environment, one of the most abundant and venomous is the death cap mushroom.

There are also lots of edible species, such as boletus, blewit, clouded agaric, sweet tooth and many others, not forgetting the famous "St. George's mushroom".

Just before you go into the beech forest, there is some holly which as been pruned, with an almost artificial form, by herbivores. This happens because, at the end of the winter, when pasture hasn’t sprouted yet, some tree species start to produce their first sprouts, which becomes food for the herbivores.

These species have developed survival strategies, like the thorns on the holly three and holm oak. Due to this, the leaves which survive the first attack develop thorns, making them less attractive to herbivores.

When the trees are young, animals eat around the whole surface, creating the initial cylindrical form. As the tree grows and herbivores cannot reach the higher parts, it expands in a rounded shape, creating sculptures which look like symmetrical chess pawns. The highest parts of the tree don’t develop thorns on their leaves, saving their effort as they don’t have predators.

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Over time, humans have made the most of resources in the forests of this region, producing charcoal, collecting firewood, exploiting mycological local resources and, above all, using the forest as pasture for cattle, mare and Hispano-Bretón horses.

In the past, there was an indigenous species of horse called Losino, characterised by their resistance to the mountain winter, but they were small and not considered adequate for meat. Likewise Terreña cattle have been replaced with breeds which produce more meat.

Hunting is one of the resources that local communities have taken advantage of, representing an important source of income.

Next, there are some models of fungi.

The fungi and mushrooms in the area are: fly agaric, known as the Witches' Sabbath for its hallucinogenic properties, true morels, porcini, delicious milk cap, Caesar's mushroom, golden chanterelle, shaggy ink cap and fairy ring mushroom.

Beside the display, there is a tree trunk with a natural mushroom which grows on dead wood.

Go to the panel on the next wall.

Life in the forest is not limited to the trees that make it. It represents a type of symbiosis between all the species which co-exist in it, both plant and animal. For example, certain fungi thrive on dead wood, which also provides an essential habitat for insects whose larva eat said wood, such as the Rosalia longicorn.

The beech tree, being the predominant tree in the beech forest, does not tolerate competition. Everything that tries to grow in its shadow dies because it doesn’t get enough light. The species which manage to survive in this environment are highly specialised, blooming early in order to develop before the beech trees have leaves.

Beech forests regenerate when a beech tree dies, from old age or being knocked town by winds or humans. The resulting opening creates a clearing in the forest which allows other species to start to grow. However, the beech tree, when it grows above the others, blocks the light again, causing the species in its shadow to die. The ones that survive are those that need less light, such as moss and ferns.

Curiously, the scientific name of the beech tree, "Fagus Sylvatica", literally means "forest eater".

Lastly, a display shows a living museum, made of elements found in the area: a couple of Late Cretaceous fossils, a modern fossil of beech leaves, a Late Cretaceous shell, between 90 and 65 million years old, a fern from the Carboniferous period, 350 million years old, an ammonoid tread and calcium carbonate allotropes.

Allotropes are minerals with the same chemical composition but in different forms, like diamond and graphite. Here you have crystallised calcium carbonate with a needle and prism form like salt, while the stones that make up the wall are amorphous calcium carbonate.

There is also a lichen, fragments of Medieval ceramics from the excavation of the Santiago monastery, Roman terra sigillata ceramics found in the graffiti cave, polymetallic nodules from caves and animal remains like talus, bones and skulls from wild boars, griffin vultures and roe deer.

At the end of the display there is a ceramic tripod, called stilts, which were used as a support to fire other ceramic pieces. In the past, clay was prepared, shaped and then fired in a kiln. However, placing a piece in the kiln directly caused the base to get hotter, causing burns, cracks and making the piece useless. Placing the ceramic on the tripod allowed the heat to be evenly distributed, allowing it to be properly fired.

Towards the middle of the exit hallway, there is a door which opens out to a ramp which brings you to a small viewpoint faces the spring, ponds and sinkhole of the Santiago spring. This is where local mythology identifies some circular marks on the bed of the second pond as tracks from Santiago’s horse.

This audio guide ends here. However, we recommend a walk outside to explore a recreation of the coal cellar, the Santiago spring, pools with young amphibians and the river sinkhole.

This audio track ends your visit to the Monte de Santiago Visitors’ Centre, which highlights the rich flora and fauna, especially the beautiful beech forest which continues to the border with the limestone hills of the Salvada mountains.

We suggest a walk outside to explore a reproduction of a charcoal pile, the Fuente Santiago upwelling, ponds with amphibian young and the river basin.

The landscape is full of lush beech forests and the spectacular Nervión waterfall, a horsetail water fall that is more than 300m long. In front of the Nervión waterfall viewpoint, you can see a unique panoramic of this exceptional landscape, shared with birds of prey and the rest of the old wolf territory.

If you would like more information, you can go to the display at reception or talk to any of the centre’s collaborators.

Thanks for your visit.