Discover La Lastra: Geology, Culture and Trails

La Lastra combines the history of technology with sacred architecture, historic utilitarian buildings and striking rock formations. The La Lastra hydroelectric power station began operating in 1947 with machinery manufactured in Spain. The La Lastra hydroelectric power station uses a water inflow that is reused and subsequently discharged into the La Lastra balancing reservoir.

For a holiday apartment in La Lastra, you can compare the travel period, room category and cancellation conditions of the respective offers side by side. These three details define the personal booking framework, while the choice of location is based on the themes of culture, landscape and trails.

Culture

The Church of San Juan Bautista has a single-nave layout with side chapels between buttresses. Its chancel terminates in a polygonal apse, with the sacristy behind it. The exterior features a simple façade with a single-arched bell gable and a straight portal between fluted pilasters. Inside, the church is covered by ribbed vaults of various designs.

San Juan Bautista is difficult to date chronologically; its construction is dated to between the 18th and 19th centuries. The building is attributed to the workshop of Val de San Vicente. The former school in the centre of La Lastra stands next to the parish church and dates from the 18th century.

El Palacio is a manor house at the upper end of La Lastra. Its main façade features semicircular arches on the ground floor and a wooden balcony. The building belonged to Captain General D. Gregorio García de la Cuesta, who was governor of the Council of Castile.

At the roadside of the CA-281 in La Lastra (Tudanca) stand the barracks of La Lastra. Today, they are abandoned or used for other purposes, while some original elements have been preserved. In their former function, the barracks served as accommodation for prisoners who worked on building the infrastructure of Saltos del Nansa.

The Casa-Dirección in La Lastra (Tudanca) is located on the CA-281 and was the first building constructed by Saltos del Nansa. Its uses included a residential building or apartment accommodation, a garage with storage facilities, as well as serving as the company’s office and storage building. When viewing historic buildings, you can perceive their form, function and period separately.

Nature

Large slabs of metamorphic rocks such as schist and clay schist hang above La Lastra. They are considered local examples of geological formations known as „lastras“.

The communal pastures of Tudanca, Santotís and La Lastra continue to provide food for native cattle. Traditional livestock farming exists alongside the preservation of significant forests. Rock, forest and pastureland each create different focal points for viewing the landscape.

Other Places

Other local pages: Rada, La Lomba, Los Tojos, Arnuero, Colindres, Noja, Piélagos, Barros.

Trails

The trail is crossed by several streams along its route. It has muddy sections during almost every season, making suitable footwear necessary.

For the overarching travel overview: Cantabria.