Route description
Distance: 13 km (round trip)
The route starts next to the petrol station in Monroyo, signposted as GR-8 (which we will follow almost as far as the hermitage of Santa Bárbara) and as PR. We climb up a track that is cemented at the start, and after a few minutes we come to a triple fork: on the left, Santa Bárbara and the GR-8; on the right, the hermitage of La Consolación; and behind us, the way back to Monroyo, where we came from. We first take the left to head towards Santa Bárbara.
We soon leave the GR-8 on the left, which descends along a narrow path. We continue towards the hermitage, which we can already make out given its size. In 15 minutes we reach Santa Bárbara, a Baroque-style church now in ruins, but which still retains an air of magnificence. It stands atop a flat-topped hill, from which there are fine panoramic views.
We retrace our steps along the path to the triple fork at the beginning; from there, we take the path on the right to head towards the hermitage of Ntra. Sra. de La Consolación. We glide along a rocky path and, among woodland, we leave behind a forestry watch hut. At a triple junction, we take the left-hand direction (the right one brings us back, in 15 min., to Monroyo, below the petrol station, crossing the road).
After 5 min. of steady descent we reach the hermitage of La Consolación, a church in good condition with structures from the 16th and 18th centuries. Next to the hermitage there is a large elm catalogued as a singular tree.
