Uznayo combines architectural heritage with routes that highlight a range of themes and landscapes. The Iglesia de San Cosme y San Damián and traditional houses offer tangible insights into the architecture; on foot, routes lead from Uznayo to Puente Pumar or uphill across meadows to the Collado de Lombraña. Travellers can therefore focus on local history, water and architectural heritage, or an uphill route.

Uznayo can be reached via a turn-off in La Laguna and is 3 kilometres from the main road.

Church and valley architecture

The Iglesia de San Cosme y San Damián is an example of 18th-century Montañés Baroque. Its nave has two bays, and the apse has a polygonal end. The polygonal end describes the shape of the apse, while “two-bay” refers to the division of the nave.

The Humilladero de las Ánimas is an 18th-century roadside oratory. Its stone-carved relief depicts the Souls in Purgatory. Uznayo’s traditional architecture includes houses made of stone and wood from the valley, as well as characteristic solanas, designed to capture warmth and light. While the church dates from the 18th century, two houses in Uznayo date from its second half, making their dating more precise. A rectangular washhouse in Uznayo has two basins and a smooth, sloping washing stone.

Buildings and routes

The El Duerno hydraulic complex consists of a spring, a livestock trough and a washhouse arranged in a line. Invernales of great ethnographic value have also been preserved in the area around Uznayo. These architectural and cultural features complement the church and residential architecture with further aspects of local cultural history.

The first 0.4-kilometre section of the Uznayo–Puente Pumar route crosses two old stone bridges. The Senda Fluvial del Nansa is a themed route for pedestrians from Uznayo to Puente Pumar. Its theme is water and the industrial and public architectural heritage associated with the Nansa River in the Nansa Valley.

Stage 3 of the Los Pueblos de Polaciones route climbs uphill across meadows towards the Collado de Lombraña after leaving Uznayo. It runs entirely through the ZEC Valles altos del Nansa y Saja y Alto Campoo Special Area of Conservation and lies within the restoration area for the Cantabrian brown bear. The route descriptions thus highlight different features: the Senda Fluvial focuses on water and architectural heritage, while Stage 3 features the climb across meadows and its named destination.

Discover more destinations: Pumareña, Bárcena de Pie de Concha, Laredo, Santillana Del Mar, Udías, Olea, Voto, Medio Cudeyo.

For the regional travel overview: Cantabria.