Guardamino: Circular Route, Nature and Church History

Guardamino combines a rural landscape with a distinctive circular route and a church whose construction and furnishings span several centuries. Meadows and small home gardens shape most of the area; some gardens still remain beside the houses. If you are weighing nature and culture for your trip, you will find both a hiking route with specific details and historical subjects relating to Guardamino itself.

Rural landscape and wildlife

Along the Guardamino circular route, oak, ash and chestnut trees can be seen on the properties. Patches of Cantabrian holm oak forest also grow on the nearby slopes at the foot of the surrounding mountain peaks. The landscape therefore includes not only meadows and home gardens, but also a variety of trees and woodland. The trees on the properties and the holm oaks on the slopes form two clearly distinct landscape features.

Deer are regularly found in the area around the Guardamino circular route. Foxes, wild boar, stone martens, hedgehogs and various rodents also live there.

The PR-S 22 circular route

The PR-S 22 Sendero Vuelta al Moro circular route starts in Ramales de la Victoria and passes through Valle del Silencio, Zorrocillas, Guardamino and Alto del Castillo before returning to Ramales de la Victoria. Guardamino is therefore one of the named waypoints on this circuit. If you consider the village in the context of the route, you can see it as a stop along a trail that starts and ends in Ramales.

An earlier route description for the PR-S 22 gives a distance of 10 kilometres, an approximate duration of 3 hours and 45 minutes, a moderate difficulty level, and around 550 metres of ascent and descent. The estimated duration provides a guide for planning your time; check trail conditions locally.

As cartographic references, the route is shown on Spanish National Topographic Map sheets 60-I (Ramales de la Victoria) and 60-III (Concha). These two sheet numbers supplement the details on the route and its length with specific map references.

The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora

The Iglesia Parroquial de Nuestra Señora in Guardamino consists of a rectangular nave with three sections. A ribbed vault with five keystones spans above it. The church dates from the 17th century; its Neoclassical main altarpiece from the 19th century includes images from the 14th and 16th centuries. A Gothic image from the 14th century is also part of the furnishings.

The church’s present appearance dates to a renovation in 1640 led by Andrés de Landeral. Work was carried out on the vault, walls and bell gable, among other features. The dates offer a glimpse into several phases of construction and furnishing: the renovation shaped the building in the 17th century, while the main altarpiece and the images it contains represent later periods.

The Battle of Guardamino

In the spring of 1839, during the First Carlist War, the Battle of Guardamino took place in Ramales and Guardamino. The Liberal troops of Baldomero Espartero defeated the Carlist army commanded by General Maroto. Alongside the church’s architecture, a specific event from the 19th century is therefore part of the area’s history. The names Espartero and Maroto identify the two military sides in this conflict.

Another activity in the municipality

The Via Ferrata Callejomadero is also described for the municipality of Ramales de la Victoria. It includes descending sections, a 40-metre-long free-hanging abseil and a Tibetan bridge. After abseiling, the only way out is via the via ferrata. Check your equipment, safety considerations and route conditions before using it. This activity is therefore a separate option in the municipality, not part of the PR-S 22 route described above.

Discover more destinations: Ormas, Pumareña, Argoños, Saro, Hazas De Cesto, Gibaja, Anero, Parbayón.

For the broader travel overview: Cantabria.