Landscape
The great variety of lithological substrates, its rugged terrain, its biogeographical location, and its unique climatic conditions, in which the oceanic character of the Cantabrian coast is tempered by a certain continental influence of orographic origin, make Somiedo a unique space.
The great glacial valleys
The varied landscape of Somedano is very marked by the altitudinal differences imposed by the orography. Glaciation and fluvial erosion shaped wide valleys, creating more sheltered areas at lower altitudes, where populations settled. The valley bottoms, with fertile land, mowing meadows, riparian forests and permanent buildings, contrast with the hillsides covered with beech or oak forests, which disappear at altitude giving way to mountain pastures, dotted with teak huts built as shelters by shepherds who climbed with their livestock to take advantage of the pastures in summer.
