“Sedano is my town and not by chance of being born there, but by a deliberate decision to have adopted it among a thousand.” But this “deliberate decision” was due to more than just the beauty of the surroundings. By chance, Ángeles, her first (and only) love, had been born in Sedano. And every summer she traveled the 100 kilometers that separated Molledo in Cantabria from Sedano to meet Ángeles. And in the end, of course, Sedano ended up being her town too.
This is the “synopsis” of the love story between Miguel Delibes and Sedano, the town that is the capital of Valle de Sedano, a municipality located in the Pahora region, 45 kilometers north of Burgos. Come with us to learn more about this environment that fell in love with the author of The holy innocents either The rats.
The greenest Castilla in Sedano
From the Pozo Azul to the canyons and gorges of Alto Ebro, and from the Orbaneja del Castillo waterfall to its Cueva del Agua. There is no doubt, Valle de Sedano is one of the greenest paradises in Castilla, a determining factor for Miguel Delibes to end up falling in love with this place where the woman who would later become his wife spent the summer.
If you arrive from the north on the BU-514, just before entering the town of Sedano, the most populated town in the municipality (with barely 150 inhabitants), you can greet Don Miguelwho is sitting on a bench on the side of the road.
It is one of the many tributes from this land to the writer born in Valladolid in 1920, whose centenary “felt” during a pandemic and could not be celebrated as deserved. It was the following year, in 2021, when various Delibian acts and events took place such as the Miguel Delibes urban route which starts at the Valle de Sedano Miguel Delibes Interpretation Center and runs through a good part of the town, passing through the square where Ángeles de Castro lived.
An initiative called Bosque Delibes also took place with the aim of remembering the importance that nature had in the life and work of the writer, as well as a traveling exhibition that included one of his most precious assets, to which he dedicated the book My dear bicycle.
Orbaneja del Castillo
Surely Delibes used his bicycle to get close to one of the most iconic places in Valle de Sedano, the town of Orbaneja del Castillo. He karst landscape that surrounds the hamlet of this town, with its spectacular rock walls, are its emblem.
It is located in one of the Ebro sickles as it passes through the north of Burgos. The presence of the river is what defines the uniqueness of this town, which is crossed by a stream that flows from the nearby Water Cave that generates an unforgettable waterfall: a mass of ocher stone that protects several small waterfalls over the electric green of the lichens.
Several paths allow the traveler to ascend towards the rock wall to enjoy the views from above. The one known as africa viewpoint It is another point that does not go unnoticed: it is one of the ridges of the rock that surrounds the town that has a hole that seems to draw the outline of this continent.
The Ebro canyon
Since we are here, we cannot miss the opportunity to get to know another of the natural landmarks of Valle de Sedano more closely. And the Ebro enters Burgos through the Loras massif generating in its wake a set of gorges, canyons and sickles which in some cases reach 200 meters deep. Ok, it’s not the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, but it’s also impressive.
From Orbaneja del Castillo part a route that follows the course of the Ebro along its southern bank towards Villaescusa de Ebro. There are just over 6 kilometers that allow you to enjoy this spectacle of nature, including a visit to the El Tobazo waterfall, which depending on the time of year can offer a delicious waterfall.
Another option to tour the Ebro Canyon that takes us to the most famous viewpoint in the area, part of Valdelateja, south of Orbaneja. It is a circular route of just over 11 kilometers and 300 meters of elevation that brings us closer to Cortigueraone of the smallest towns in the area: it only has 9 inhabitants.
Blue Well
And going down the N-623 from Valdelateja, just before reaching Covanera which already belongs to the municipality of Tubilla del Agua, we cannot miss the Pozo Azul, another emblem of this environment. From the town you can follow a path that leads to the well, which also has a small parking lot nearby.
And the Pozo Azul is not just any well: you just have to see the tone of its waters to understand its fame. It is a concavity of 7 meters in diameter and great depth which is a paradise for lovers of underwater caving.
And in the summer months, an impressive place to take a bath and enjoy the greener (and bluer) Castilla that Delibes and so many travelers who come to this environment in the north of Burgos fell in love with.
