Flatland

For the parish of the council of San Martín de Oscos see Illano (Oscos).

Illano (in eonaviego Eilao) is a council and parish in the autonomous community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain.

The council limits to the north with Boal, to the south with Pesoz and San Martín de Oscos, to the east with Boal, Villayón and Allande and to the west with Villanueva de Oscos and Castropol. It has a population of 360 inhabitants (INE, 2017), mostly grouped in the population centers of Cedemonio, Illano, La Montaña, Sarzol, and Villar de Bullaso.

It is one of the municipalities where Eonaviego (or Galician-Asturian) is spoken.

History

Old Age

Its oldest remains date back to Neolithic prehistory, thus more than two dozen burial mounds have been cataloged in the Sierra de Carondio area and not far from here is the famous dolmen of Entrerríos. This structure is known as the Llastra da Filadoira, in 1962 it was inspected discovering that some vertical stones were missing.

Two sites have been located from its castro period. El Castellón, with an urban architecture that can still be seen even though it is partly buried by the ground, and Los Castelloes in Hevia. The first castro is attributed to the Galician people, but the second does not seem clear if the peoples who inhabited it were Galician or Astures. From the Roman domination they are related to the exploitation of the gold mines that were very abundant in the region.

Middle Ages and Modern

The Middle Ages are marked by the activity of ecclesiastical institutions that will introduce the modes of feudal relationship. The monastery of Villanueva de Oscos is founded, which little by little increases its patrimonial domain, reaching the towns of Illano, Gío, Cedemonio and Bullaso. Over time, it ended up setting up a large council belonging to the bishopric with its capital in the town of Castropol.

With the confiscation of Felipe II, Illano achieved its independence from Castropol, this was carried out by the redemption paid for by the neighbors themselves, valued at 6,323,766 maravedíes, freeing themselves from the domination of the miter and passing to the jurisdiction ordinary.

In the 18th century, its economy was based on the agricultural sector. A renewal of the council ordinances is made. From this time there is good cadastral documentation detailing all the assets that the council had, from the number of heads of cattle to the mills for grinding grain. This cadastre is made by the Marqués de la Ensenada.

19th century onwards

From the 19th century, we must highlight the confiscation of Mendizábal, in which the assets of the church were sold. Apart from this historical circumstance, the Illano council remains without major changes or convulsions in its socioeconomic and administrative structures.

Illano Town Hall.

In the 20th century, the only thing worth noting is the construction of the Doiras waterfall by Electra de Viesgo in 1929-1933. It will be the first of the so-called Navia kilowatt route. His works cause a demographic increase but from the seventies there is a brutal rural exodus that impoverished the municipality, since it did not achieve the expected employment expectations.

Geography

Its main communication route is the AS-12 that crosses the council from south to north. It is at a distance of 168 kilometers from the capital of the Principality, Oviedo. Its orography takes as its axis the fluvial course of the Navia river, its right bank has peaks such as A Bobia, which is its ceiling with 1162 meters. Other heights are: A Vega, O Corrello, A Camposta and Cabanastaxide. On its left bank are the Riodecoba and Estela mountain ranges, the Bustelo and Cristaleira peaks.

Its climate is oceanic typical of the Cantabrian area, humid and cold in the high mountains and mountains and temperate in the lowlands.

View of the Navia River, from Illano. To the bottom, St. Stephen of the snowed vultures.

The hydrographic network is marked by the Navia that crosses it from south to east. Its most important tributaries are the Cartelo, Entrerrias, El Pato, and the Ciyúa. The water in this council is an essential production factor, being dammed in Doiras. Its landscape is one of the least deteriorated in relation to the neighboring councils, perhaps due to its lack of industry and its low demographics. It has had a large deforestation factor due in part to its weak and inconsistent soils, resulting in a large amount of scrub, although it is still possible to see birches, oaks, cork oaks and hazelnut trees.

Parishes

The council of Illano is made up of 5 parishes:

• Bullaso
• Gio
• Hi.
• Illano
• Round

Demographic evolution

Graphic of demographic evolution of Illano between 1842 and 2010

Their populations are marked by the orography of the terrain, since its rugged nature and the depth of the valleys means that the habitat is located in the middle of the slope and on the left bank of the river, which is where its capital is located.

Its economy is anchored in its agrarian tradition and it was losing population during almost the entire XIX century, but it was between 1960 and 1981 when it lost more than half of its inhabitants. Currently, the depopulation process continues, although at a slower pace, currently (2017) with 360 inhabitants.

Its population is very old, since one in three people is over 60 years of age and only 18% reach 20 years of age. This is due to their emigration, which at first went to Overseas coinciding with the crisis that ended in the Civil War and later their emigration changed to the developed countries of northern and central Europe.

Economy

Because of all this, its population pyramid has a large gap marked in its economic sector. This is based mainly on the primary sector and within this, especially on agriculture and livestock, partly because its population is dedicated to subsistence farming. It had a peak moment, but it was only for a short time, which was with the construction of the Doiras dam, which fixed its demographic strength, but in a very temporary way, since it did not meet the expectations that arose around the creation of employment and local development.

Administration and politics

In the council of Illano, since 1979, the party that has ruled the longest has been the PSOE, which has been doing so since 1983 (see list of mayors of Illano). The current mayor is Wenceslao González Rico, who has governed since 2019.

Art

The first thing we will mention is an example of popular traditional architecture such as the town of San Esteban de los Buitres, where its houses are still built with slate maintaining a perfect set with the landscape.

Among its artistic heritage we will highlight the main works.

• The Armera house of Mojardin, or house of the Llomba is of the centuryXVIIIIt is structured around a porticodo courtyard. Its main facade is marked by two towers and a central body. The towers are three floors with vains that increase in size from the narrow saeteras of the lower floor to the upper balcony. All ripped by a stone ledge. In the middle of the facade the door opens, it is simple with a monolithic lintel, on it a half-point arched window and with a small fronton auction. The courtyard with pillars that support a wooden gallery that makes it a distributor, opens the chapel and next to the door a staircase that leads to the high floor.

• The sanctuary of Our Lady of the Shepherd, built in 1665. The headboard with half barrel vault and the ship covered with wood to two waters. The vault of the header is covered with very sketchy and popular paintings that are distributed in three stripes with five scenes framed by blossomed cenephas that represent the mysteries of the rosary. It has a popular baroque altarpiece of the centuryXVIII. It also highlights the image of the Virgin of the Shepherd. In it is only the Child Jesus and the parts seen of the Virgin, that is, hands and head. The rest is a frame. Next to the sanctuary there is a century-old tree called the Pastur Tejo.

• The parish church of Our Lady of Bullaso. In the porch it has embedded a stone with inscriptions in visory letters dated between the 8th and Xth centuries. The letters are in circle and in the middle of a Cross. This church has inside several baroque altarpieces. Thus the altar altar altarpiece which is the 17th century is structured in two floors and three streets flanked by columns with helical stretch marks.

• The parish church of Santa Leocadia of Illano, in this church what stands out most is its altarpiece of the Crucified Christ, which includes a Gothic size of Saint John of the 14th to 15th centuries. The altarpiece of the presbytery is of the Virgin of Carmen, it is golden and all polychromed, it is all surrounded by reliefs that represent different saints but all of them are dressed in the habit of Carmel to whom the church belongs.

Parties

• In March: the 19th, St. John held in Lantero.

• In May: the 20th day of San Julián in Gio and the 25th day of the Remedios in La Montaña.

• In June: on the 13th are the San Antonio fiestas in the towns of El Pato and El Villar de Bullasco, on the 29th are the fiestas of San Pedro in Cedemony.

• In July: the 16th day is the festival of Carmen in its capital Illano.

• In August: the 15th day the most important feast of the council is celebrated in Bullaso, on the 3rd day of San Esteban in the village of its name, on the 5th day the festivals of Las Nieves in the town of Cernías, on the 16th day are the fiestas of San Roque in the town of Navedo. On August 28, the day of St. Augustine in Pastur is celebrated, I would like to pray to the pilgrims of the council and border.

• In September: the day of the Virgin of Pastur, where people from all over the region, the neighboring councils and Galicia, come to the hermitage of the Virgin of Pastur one of the main sanctuaries of the west of Asturias.

• In October: the second Saturday of this month is celebrated the second Bullaso party called Santa Maria.