In and around Pola de Laviana you can see the town walk, the Otero shrine, the Nalón path to La Chalana and its 1930 mill, Puente de Arco, Palacio Valdés's birthplace in Entralgo, the old tower at El Condao and the Romanesque doorway of San Nicolás in Villoria.
Pola de Laviana, La Pola Llaviana in Asturian, is the main town of the Laviana municipality and the end of the C-5 commuter line from Gijón. It is a town to explore on foot: the river runs beside the centre and, within a few kilometres, there is a hilltop shrine, two medieval bridges, the house where Palacio Valdés was born and an old tower. Here is what there is to see, from nearest to furthest.
The town on foot
The Town Council suggests a town walk, «Trama y evolución urbana», past the buildings the town put up when the mines brought money: the old 18th-century town hall, the Art Deco Cine Maxi by Juan Manuel del Busto, the Modernist Banco Herrero building, the newer Town Hall by Mariano Marín, from 1905, the old graded schools, now the CIDAN, and the plaza de la Pontona. The church of Santa María de la Asunción is by Luis Bellido, neo-Gothic, and was consecrated on 13 May 1899, according to the council's tourist guide.
Much of the centre has been pedestrianised and is now a single-level route, comfortable with a wheelchair or pushchair too, according to the accessibility report the Mancomunidad Valle del Nalón produced in 2024. There is a market in the town on Thursdays, and in Barredos on Wednesdays, according to Turismo Asturias.
The Otero shrine
From the plaza de la Pontona a road climbs to La Rebollada, and off it a lane leads to the shrine of Nuestra Señora del Otero, according to the council guide. It was the town's parish church until Bellido's was built; it was possibly put up in the 16th century, and later alterations took away much of its bulk. Inside are an 18th-century main altarpiece and the carving of the Virgin of El Otero, from the late 19th or early 20th century, although the devotion is recorded as far back as 1654.
Outside it is plain: a Latin-cross plan, a round-arched doorway and, on the left side, a window of three small horseshoe arches on slender columns, which Wikipedia singles out. The festivities of Nuestra Señora del Otero are the town's patron saint's days, with the main day on 15 August; around then the image is carried in procession from the shrine to the church in town, according to the Town Council. The Descenso Folklórico del Nalón falls within those festivities.
Along the river to La Chalana
Beside the Nalón runs a path of about 5 kilometres, almost flat and with a hard surface, shared with a cycle lane. The accessibility report starts it at the municipal swimming pool car park, takes it past the river beach and ends it near the La Chalana bridge; there is no accessible exit at the end, so with a wheelchair it is an out-and-back walk. Downstream, the riverside path carries on for about 15 kilometres to Riañu, in Langreo, as told in the guide to the train through the Nalón valley.
At La Chalana is the Molín de La Chalana, a water mill from 1930 that was restored and brought back to work as a teaching centre, and on a plot next to it the fish-rearing centre of the Nalón anglers, according to the council guide.
Puente de Arco
Upstream, past the hamlet of Iguanzo, is Puente de Arco, Puente d'Arcu, the village named after its bridge over the Nalón. The council guide dates the bridge to around the 12th or 13th century: two arches with an off-centre middle pier, in sandstone, rebuilt in 1875. Next to it is the chapel of Santa Eugenia, also called la Magdalena, where Laviana's aldermen took office until the 19th century.
It is the spot where the Descenso boats go into the river, according to the Town Council. For a short walk, the Mancomunidad suggests the path from Puente d'Arcu to Ribota, about 2 kilometres along a track that soon heads into the woods.
Entralgo, Palacio Valdés's village
Armando Palacio Valdés was born in Entralgo in 1853, and his birthplace, an 18th-century country house, has been the Centro de Interpretación telling his life and that of «La aldea perdida» since 2003; the story is in the guide to Palacio Valdés and Entralgo. The Mancomunidad says it can be visited by booking ahead by phone, but the Town Council's tourism page listed it in October 2026 as closed until further notice: ring before going.
Around it, the council's «Recuperando la Aldea Perdida» route links the house with an 18th-century granary and a cider press that belonged to the writer's family, the church, the La Llera school garden and the Molín de La Chalana. From the same door a Mancomunidad walk climbs through meadows and follows the riverbank to Villoria.
El Condao and Villoria
In El Condao stands the old tower, a Bien de Interés Cultural according to the council guide. Its age is disputed: that guide treats it as a Roman defence altered under Alfonso I and again in the 14th century, while Wikipedia says its structure dates from the late Middle Ages. In La Aldea is the Baroque house of the Menéndez Valdés family, with a chapel and galleries, also a Bien de Interés Cultural.
Villoria keeps a Romanesque doorway in the church of San Nicolás, all that remains of the 12th-century church, and nearby a single-arched bridge from the 12th or 13th century. Fray Ceferino González was born there in 1831. Higher up, the climb to Peña Mea and the Ojo de Buey is another outing altogether.
In autumn
Turismo Asturias counts the red deer rut among Laviana's autumn spectacles. On 12 October the town holds the La Pontona festivities, with a livestock fair that the Town Council ranks among the municipality's most deep-rooted events. And the valley carries on uphill: what changes at this time of year is in the guide to Redes Natural Park in autumn.
Checked
Facts checked in October 2026 with: Laviana Town Council (Fiestas, Qué hacer, Oficina de Turismo and the Guía Turístico Gastronómica de Laviana), Turismo Valle del Nalón (Paseos naturales, Museos and the 2024 accessibility reports for the Pola de Laviana town walk and the Pola de Laviana–La Chalana path), Turismo Asturias (Laviana) and Wikipedia (Laviana, Pola de Laviana and Línea C-5 de Cercanías Asturias).
Quick questions
How do you get up to the Otero shrine?
From the plaza de la Pontona a road climbs to La Rebollada, and off it a lane leads to the shrine, according to the council guide.
Can you walk by the river with a wheelchair?
Yes: the path to La Chalana is about 5 kilometres, almost flat and with a hard surface, but there is no accessible exit at the end, so it is an out-and-back walk.
Can you visit Palacio Valdés's birthplace?
The Mancomunidad says visits are by booking ahead by phone, but the council website listed it in October 2026 as closed until further notice: ring before going.