Discover Selaya: Pasiego Landscape, Culture and Sweet Treats

Selaya showcases the typical Pasiego landscape, with meadows and huts. Numerous Pasiego hut settlements feature traditional stone enclosures.

If you are planning a stay in a holiday apartment in Selaya, you can compare travel dates, room categories and cancellation policies on the respective offer pages. These details represent three different comparison points for personal planning.

Culture and History

The Palacio de Donadío, also known as La Casa de la Colina, dates from the late 16th or early 17th century. A massive defensive tower of medieval origin is incorporated into the building. The Iglesia de San Juan Bautista preserves its original furnishings in five 18th-century altarpieces.

The Cubos and the Rollo Heráldico de Selaya were designated as Bien de Interés Cultural in the Monument category on 3 April 2002. The Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Valvanuz is a Romanesque religious building on a meadow at the foot of the San Bartolomé slope. Its three-storey Baroque bell gable is decorated with Herrerian motifs.

Museums

The Museo de las Amas de Cría Pasiegas displays 300 photographs of wet nurses from 1880 to 1936, characteristic traditional costumes and a library. The museum is located in the Casa de la Beata next to the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Valvanuz.

The Museo del Sobao Pasiego presents the traditions of the Valles Pasiegos, as well as the origins and development of the characteristic sweet treats sobao and quesada. It has ethnographic material and historic equipment; the production process can be observed from a glass-enclosed area. Sobaos and quesadas pasiegos are among the most important products of Selaya’s thriving food industry.

Landscape and Trails

The Río Pisueña rises in Selaya. The Nacimiento del Pisueña route leads from the Pisueña district to the river’s source and through ethnographically valuable groups of huts and a landscape of enclosed meadows.

The 10 km route to Los Picones de Sopeña is a moderately difficult ascent along the watershed between the Pas and Pisueña rivers. It runs from Alto de Caracol via Los Picones de Sopeña to Alto de la Braguía, with views of the Carriedo Valley, the Miera Valley and Vega de Pas. The GR-74 Corredor Oriental leaves Selaya via the Puente Piedra district towards Los Vaqueros and La Sierra to the south.

More places for planning your trip: Ampuero, Argomilla, Rumoroso, Villaescusa, Colsa, Casamaría, La Pared, Santiurde De Toranzo

Festivals

The celebration of the Virgen de Valvanuz on 15 August is recognised as a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional. It includes a procession of the Virgen on her triumphal float, competitions in Salto Pasiego and Jotas, demonstrations of traditional costumes and the Milla Urbana de Selaya sporting event.

For the broader travel overview: Cantabria.