Castañeras

Castañeras is a small locality in western Asturias, its name the plural of castañera, meaning chestnut grove or chestnut woman, indicating a place defined by chestnut cultivation or a chestnut grove. Chestnut woodland is a characteristic feature of the humid Atlantic interior of western Asturias, where the tree thrives on the well-watered valley slopes.

The settlement sits in the coastal hinterland terrain typical of this stretch, with mixed chestnut and oak woodland on the hillsides, green pasture in the valley floors, and the stone farmhouses of traditional Asturian rural settlement. For pilgrims, Castañeras is a passage point in the western Asturian coast interior section.