La continuación de la calle Juan de Austria, es la calle de la Iglesia.

Subimos hasta la antigua plaza del Altozano, llamada así por ser una planicie en lo alto de esta cuesta; hoy es llamada plaza de Federico Fernández, hombre que cayo en desgracia ya que fue el primer arénense que murió en la Guerra Civil.

We are in the old Plaza del Altozano, so called because it was a plain at the top of this slope; today it is called Plaza de Federico Fernández, a man who fell in disgrace as he was the first man from Arenas who died in the civil war. We go down the street of the church towards Calle de la Nava.

When twelve noon comes, it is Angelus time and they sound interpreting the song: «The thirteenth of May» from «Our Lady of Fatima»

The organ is located inside the Tower of Saint Bárbara, in the current choir loft. The Baptismal font was also relocated to the ground floor of the tower, in the chapel enclosed by a valuable 1500´s railing, the only example of Renaissance grillwork in Arenas. Previously both the baptismal font and the organ were located between the back and north wall of the church.

The pipe organ is from the 18^th century of the Toledo school. Of mechanical transmission with window console, it shows the typical characteristics of the Iberian baroque organ. It had a mechanism that moved by means of arms to propel the bellows with the air that spread through the pipes in a pleasant sound when the keyboard was played. Today this mechanism is mechanical-electrical.

Of the 1208 tubes it originally had, it currently conserves 618, mostly in tin and with a short octave of 45 notes. Its case is baroque with abundant colourful decoration in green, red, ochre and golden tones. The organ is embellished with a high gilded carved surface; whose lateral pinnacles serve as seats for two cherubs blowing pipes.

Once, on the occasion of a repair, a hidden note was discovered with the following inscription: «This organ was made in the year of the Lord of 1726, being priest Vicar of this town D. Alfonso Zermeño».

The original church from the middle of the 14^th century was enlarged and reformed in the 15^th and 16^th centuries by the Duke of Infantado. Between the 40’s and 50’s, as we have mentioned before, the parish priest Mr. Marcelo Gómez Matías made many of the reforms that we can see today, especially in the presbytery and the frescoes.

Well into our millennium, the windows were replaced by stained glass windows made by a prestigious glassmaker from Segovia in 2008 commissioned by the then pastor Mr. Javier Navarro Gómez. These windows are contemplated in the southern part of the church, adorned with three stained glass windows representing San Pedro de Alcántara, The Virgin of the Pillar of Arenas and Santa Teresa de Jesús, as well as the two stained glass windows of the Baptistery chapel, highlighting the one representing the Baptismal symbol.

Currently, being parish priest D. Cruz Herráez Díaz, the entire facade of the temple, which was covered with mortar, was revised, leaving its original stone in sight; Also since 2019 the organ is in the process of restoring, which is currently in use and as a sample is its sound in this musical background.

The carving of San Pedro de Alcántara was made in the 19th century, it replaced an older one from the 17th century, now disappeared. It is a wood carving and represents the barefoot Saint, with a wiry face and bald head. He appears with his right hand on his chest, while he contemplates a skull, which he holds with his left hand, from which also hang some disciplines. Fray Pedro de Alcántara deep and sincere friend of Teresa of Jesus, was faithful adviser of the Saint, who guided her and gave her the definitive impulse to reform the Carmel.

Fray Pedro de Alcántara transformed the hermitage of San Andrés del Monte into the church of a small Franciscan convent. He lived the last years of his life in Arenas, dying in the infirmary in 1562 in the odour of sanctity.

In 1622 he was beatified. Arenas placed itself under the protection of the Blessed and proclaimed him its patron that same year. Blessed Pedro was canonized in 1669, after a long process in which many people from Arenas and neighbouring towns testified, incorporating from that date the name of the Saint to the name of the municipality: Arenas de San Pedro.

Between 1772 and 1776 the works of the Royal Chapel of the Sanctuary of San Pedro de Alcántara were carried out on the plans of Ventura Rodríguez; the remains of the Saint are transferred to the porphyry urn once the works were finished. San Pedro de Alcántara is the patron saint of Extremadura and Portugal (his feast day is celebrated on October 19^th).

The Christ of the waters, although it does not have the privilege of being located (due to its large size) in the main chapel or presbytery, is one of the jewels of our church. It is a carving from the second half of the 14^th century in Romanesque-Gothic style. Made of cane heart wood, it represents Christ crucified in a patient and serene posture. A dead Christ on the cross. It is a perfect structure with the head inclined to the right side. He wears a large crown of thorns and three rays of light, symbol of his divinity as the second person of the Holy Trinity. It is believed that this image belonged to the primitive church of the 14^th century.

This image was used with great devotion since it was taken out in rogation when there were droughts, plagues or epidemics to implore from it the rain needed or the health so desired.

The presbytery is presided over by a large painting of the Assumption of Mary, patron saint of the church; it is an 18^th century painting that belongs to the school of Murillo. It is escorted by two carvings of archangels of natural size: Saint Michael Miguel and Saint Raphael, also belonging to the 18^th century.

The parish priest Marcelo Gómez Matías placed in its main chapel a frieze of ceramics of Talavera with the saints of the diocese of Avila. In 1940, the artist Juan Ruiz de Luna from Talavera, gave color to the 2500 tiles that adorn the half high part of this chapel, representing a sky in which angels abound between clouds giving escort to the Virgin. In the double frieze of more than 1100 tiles, the Virgin is accompanied by fourteen saints of the diocese of Avila, seven martyrs and seven confessors, also the work of Ruiz de Luna.

In the centre, behind the granite altar, there is a neoclassical Versailles-style shrine that recalls in miniature the Temple of Solomon. It dates from the 18^th century and comes from the oratory of the Palace of the Infant Mr. Luis de Borbón in Arenas. In its interior is located the Tabernacle made in gold and silver by Lázaro Gumiel in 1948.

In the Main Chapel, above the door that leads to the sacristy, is this canvas that represents the Virgin of the pillar of Arenas in a frame of baroque style dated in 1738. Accompanying the Virgin in a praying attitude are Saint Pedro de Alcántara and Saint Agustín, at her feet the Villa of Arenas and the Latin inscription: «Sub umbra alarum tuarum. Protege nos” (Under the shadow of your wings, Protect us).

It is believed that this painting was rescued from the flames of the old convent of San Agustín. It is known that the canvas presided for years over the plenary hall of the Town Hall of Arenas, until it was finally deposited in the parish church.

The carving of the Virgin of the Pillar was found in the 11th century. Well known then for its miracles and prodigies, this reached the ears of Cordoba, who claimed it because the description of the carving coincided with the image that their ancestors hid in some rocks at the time of the Muslim invasion. After several disputes, the authorities gave the carving of the Virgin to the people of Cordoba, although the intention of the Virgin became clear when on two occasions and miraculously, the image returned to Arenas, where it was finally found in an olive tree (it is said that they saw an eagle hovering over the olive tree and the image).

The Virgin of the Pillar of Arenas is the patron saint of the people of Arenas or Pilaretes; she had her sanctuary in the convent of the Augustinians until it was burned by the French in the War of Independence. Given as a divine grace, the image at that time was not in the convent, had been lowered to the parish of the people on the occasion of some celebrations prayers. Since then it has been here in the parish. 

Built in fine wood, it is in its entirety, that is to say, without mantle or dress, all this to be able to appreciate its great artistic value. It is shown in a seated position. On the left side of her lap is her son, the Child Jesus, whom she is holding with her hand behind her back. In her right hand she holds a sphere as a symbol of the whole, of power and perfection.

The image measures 55 centimetres. The effigy rests on a striking pillar of 23 centimetres. This pillar rests on another column, gilded with an eagle with outstretched wings (a gift from the people of Cordoba as a souvenir and symbol of what happened). On top of it is a silver crescent symbolizing Mary conceived without original sin. Between the eagle and the column there is a deformed head that represents evil, temptation and envy. This composition symbolizes the original sin committed by Eve and redeemed by Mary, who firmly triumphs over the evil on which she treads.

In 1950, the academic painter Eduardo Martínez Vázquez, painter par excellence of the Sierra of Gredos, Guisando and Arenas, decorated the fresco on the central front of the church, representing the Virgin of Pilar in her apparition to Santiago Apostle; below is the main chapel or presbytery of the temple, is square. It has a flat headwall that has taken advantage of the remains of the previous temple. Its roof is lower and of smaller proportions than the rest. It is surrounded by a chestnut wood masonry of neo-Renaissance taste, with 25 seats, with their arms and rotating seats. The construction of the seating is due to artisan cabinetmakers from Arenas, as well as its later restoration.

The lateral frescoes were made by the Dominican Julio Ibáñez in 1966, representing the one on the left «The Transverberation of Saint Theresa of Jesus», phenomenon by which Theresa of Avila lived the mystical experience of the intimate union with God when her heart was pierced by the supernatural fire.   On the right is «The Impression of the wounds of St. Francis»; It was in September 1224 while Francis was immersed in divine contemplation, when Christ imprinted on his body the stigmata of his passion; thus fulfilling the desire of Francis with his prayer: «O my Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to grant me before I die, to feel in my soul and in my body, as far as possible, the pain that you, sweet Jesus, endured in the hour of your most bitter passion».

Below these frescoes of great mystical charge and divine experience, are the images of our patron saints: The Virgin of the Pillar of Arenas and San Pedro de Alcántara.

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The body of the church is divided into three naves with pointed vaults that support twelve columns, six attached to the lateral walls and six isolated in the centre; and a square apse also vaulted, the central nave is slightly higher and wider than the lateral ones. The columns like palm trees extend their ribs throughout the roof, offering the grandeur of the Gothic temples. It is considered one of the first Gothic churches called «de salón» … it is unique in our Diocese of Avila.

We are in the center of Arenas, next to our town hall. Here is where it was decided to erect the church of Our Lady of the Assumption, with its exterior marked by simplicity, if it were not for the slender Renaissance tower.

The construction of the temple in its Gothic structure dates from the early fifteenth century, commissioned by the Duke of Infantado, D. Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (grandson of Ms. Juana de Pimentel and D. Álvaro de Luna), is a temple oriented, that is, its main wall, where the tabernacle is sheltered, is facing Jerusalem. The decoration of the balls speaks to us of the characteristic gothic of Avila, as well as its magnificent granite pulpit. The church is under the patronage of Our Lady of the Assumption and dedicated to the Virgin of the Pillar.

To you, visitor, I am going to ask for a special attention if you access the temple with this guided tour, … Please use headphones inside our church, do not forget that you are entering a sacred place, a place of worship and deserves the due silence and respect.

In the mid-sixteenth century, Lucas Giraldo and Juan Rodriguez built the Renaissance Tower of Santa Barbara, attached to the wall of the south side of the temple; it measures 40 meters high by 10 meters wide; quadrangular in shape, breaks its monotony with a cylindrical body attached to its north side, which houses our spiral staircase of 73 steps leading to four straight imposts that mark another similar but narrower body with another 92 steps also in spiral. The upper part is topped with a balustrade.

The Tower is called “of Santa Bárbara” by a typical inscription of many towers entrusting itself to the Saint to defend itself from the lightning; and it is that this Saint died martyr for declaring its catholic faith and not to obey her father in another type of nuptials; her father was who decapitated her, being that precise instant when a lightning reached them, dying him too.

…and it is precisely in this square where the Parish Church of the Assumption is located.   Our church has two porticoes that open onto the side naves, one to the north and the other to the south, which is where we are, with a simple pointed arch that could belong to the initial period of the church in the 14th century. Here, since 1503, the town council met to discuss matters to be deliberated. On the other hand, there is evidence of another church built earlier, which, in the early days of the town of Arenas, was dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God as «Iglesia de Santa María». It is estimated that this temple dates back to 1332, when Pope John XXII was Supreme Pontiff. By the signing of a buleto or privilege (signed by archbishops and bishops), plenary indulgences were granted to the Church of Saint Mary of Arenas on certain days, especially on holidays.

The continuation of the street Juan de Austria, is the street of the church, we went up to the old Plaza del Altozano, so called because it is a plain at the top of this slope; today it is called Federico Fernandez square, a man who fell in disgrace as he was the first man in Arenas who died in the civil war.

Now, with some care, we will lean out to the side of the bridge, looking north, with the Sierra de Gredos in the background, … down to the left, in the third eye of the background is preserved the river channel that, starting from the river in the town itself, led the water to be able to use its strength…. we return towards the square of the victims… Just where we have entered, at the end of the bridge begins the fattened square, so called in memory of the civilians massacred by the Napoleonic fury during the war of Independence, whose bodies were deposited here in such a makeshift morgue. It was in 1809 when the French set the city on fire in retaliation for the death of 24 soldiers who had been killed while on an expedition in search of food (legend tells that these soldiers were drunk and later they were defeated). In retaliation, they slit the throats of more than 30 people in different parts of the town, ransacked the church and many houses, and set fire to the Augustinian convent; the town was left desolate because, in addition to the Town Hall, more than 300 houses had been destroyed by fire.

It would not be the last time that Arenas was in flames… the town would be set on fire again during the First Carlist War in 1838.

The fire is always linked to the history of Arenas, a history of struggle and development, where even in the coat of arms appears burning castle with the inscription: Always on fire and always faithful.

Looking north, we find the Medieval Bridge of Aquelcabo, which is the oldest bridge in Arenas de San Pedro. It is Gothic in style and consists of three arches, the central one being the largest. This bridge is traditionally misnamed «Roman bridge» (as it was built on a previous bridge, presumably Roman), is expected to have been erected between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, so it is of medieval origin. It was widely used by travellers and transhumant shepherds, who paid the portage in advance. It was a source of income for the lord, while facilitating the driving of transhumant herds to the Peon or Arenal port. Under the bridge Aquelcabo is the puddle of the stone of the pot that is where all the inhabitants of Arenas learned to swim.

We are approaching the bridge to crown it, … there is a popular song that collects the love and affection of the arenenses or “pilaretes” (the people of Arenas), its lyrics read like this:

Arenas is the most beautiful

unbeatable town.

I love you more than my life.

More than my dear mother.

And on my knees I ask you

that if I had money,

at the top of the Roman bridge,

With letters of gold I would put a sign

saying: You are Arenas,

the most beautiful in the whole world.

… And we arrived at the wooden lookout and the Arenal River. The river bank closest to the village was always used to wash and rinse the laundry until the town had a water network; it was very different the use of the opposite bank that was always used for commercial and industrial use, using water, with its dams, hence its location next to the river to use its hydraulic force. Today, the street parallel to the river is called Calle del Martinete (Street of Marinete), and perhaps one of the oldest activities was the installation of the Copper Martinete, with its water wheel, cams or oak teeth and the mallet that was lifted with its 200 kilograms and released into the vacuum to hit the copper against the iron anvil, until the flatness of the metal and the desired shape of the craftsmanship was obtained. The force of the water was also used to stoke the fire of the smelters, printing air; flour mills, oil mills. Years later “the dam of Barbas”, worked with the light that the river produced and its force for the sawmill.

Looking to the West, we observe, above the river, the grove, we see the Lancharon´s top.

Looking to the south, to the left, in the lower part we see the thicket of «The montaneros» and in the highest area «The hill of the Eagle”

In front of the fountain of La Nava, by the street of the fish, we go to the wooden viewpoint, on the way I will tell you the history of our Castle and the reason for its three names: Castle of the Constable Davalos, Castle of D. Alvaro of Moon and Castle of the sad Countess.

It is the XIV century, in 1393, when Ruy Lopez Davalos gets from the King to segregate from the city of Avila, the most important villages of the valley of Tietar, granting Arenas its privilege of town, to soon after achieve that Enrique III grants him to be his first feudal lord, since his preeminent place in the court as Constable makes him possess great influence on the monarch. Davalos is the one who builds the Castle of Arenas since 1395. The fall of the Constable Davalos for his participation in the failed coup of Tordesillas caused the lordship to pass, in 1423, to the Count of Benavente who donated it to his daughter Ms. Juana of Pimentel on the occasion of her marriage to Mr. Alvaro of Luna, who spent a short and ephemeral time in the castle.

In April 1453, Mr. Álvaro of Luna after demonstrating an extraordinary power for the crown with the support of the king, was imprisoned by the pressure of the queen since she doubted the methods of the constable. He was taken to Valladolid, tried and accused in a rigged manner, and executed two days later.

Legend has it that Ms. Juana of Pimentel cried every afternoon waiting for the return of her husband, locked up in the walls of this castle, by order of the king. She herself was called the sad countess. Ms. Juana, by her struggle and courage, managed to get the castle back to her property.

Our Fountain of La Nava has been very much appreciated and travelled, since it and its spring are the ones that supplied water to our neighbourhood, next to the distant Fuente del Castañar (Fountain of the chestnut grove).

It has an inscription on the stone where it appears: «YEAR 1875»; curiously there is evidence of the existence at the beginning of the century, as it is quoted in the tragic story of the victims of 1809:

«Diego Yáñez husband of Brígida Sánchez Villarejo, stabbed to death next to the fountain of La Nava…».

It is a fountain with a pentagonal stone pylon. However, it is not the original pylon since this one was much larger. It has two spouts embedded in a stone masonry wall, followed by a frieze and ornamented by three granite polyhedrons. In one of its faces can be seen in bas-relief the Castle of Arenas.

This fountain served as inspiration to many artists and popular songs, like the one that says: «If the fountain of La Nava spilled arrope (food), more than four sweet thoot would go at night».

By the way, «Arrope» are slices of pumpkins that are submerged one night in water-lime: in the morning they are taken out, dried and washed, and cooked with white stale figs and some sugar. Once left to cool, the only thing left to do is to taste.

The Barrio de la Nava is characterized as one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Arenas. Nava means flat and treeless land – it is hollow. Its name itself perfectly describes its location in the town, on the outskirts of it and on the river bank. In this neighbourhood was also born in 1930, the international painter Victorio Rodríguez Gómez. It is a picturesque neighbourhood in which stands out our «Fuente de la Nava«.

La Nava has always been a fertile and exotic place; it was surrounded by orchards, full of fruit trees such as fig trees, peach trees, clingstone, nectarines, plum trees, pomegranate trees, climbing vines, mulberries, blackberries…

In the past, in the month of June the great feast of the neighbourhoods of Arenas was celebrated, «The Feast of Corpus Christi», in which La Nava always stood out from the other neighbourhoods, since all the neighbours decorated it with great dedication and enthusiasm; The Town Hall paid for the music, and the people of the neighbourhood in a particular way and as a great act of solidarity, made perrunillas, mantecados (typical Spanish pastry) and muffins that they ordered to bake for a few reales (old coins of little value) to be able to sell it to the visitors; All the money that was collected from the sale of the sweets was donated to the nunnery of San Pedro de Alcántara.

We are in the Travesía de la Nava and its particular layout; a little further up and parallel is the similar Calle de los Hornos (so called because in this neighbourhood were located the already defunct kilns of the potteries.

At the end of this street, we are located in some blocks already built in the 60s; many of the owners, in order to build their own houses on the plots of the old orchards that made up this environment, had to go for some years to work in Germany and other European countries and thus, to save money, return to the village and build their houses with ceramic materials and granite stones from the mountains, which they themselves transported and sculpted.

The Plaza del Canchal is one of the most photographed places in Arenas de San Pedro, is where much of the old Moorish suburb was located. There lived people who were largely engaged in construction work, pottery, craftsmen in leather tanning or tanneries, …

The steep Canchal square, as its name suggests, is full of boulders. It preserves its exceptional traditional architecture of stone and lime houses, balconies and wooden beams as we mentioned before; … now we invite you to visit and walk through the narrowest street of Arenas … La travesía de la Nava.

Traditional architecture is preserved in our «Moorish quarter». They are stone and lime houses with balconies, beams and wooden doors. Generally, they were houses with a block structure, in which the living area and the rooms for livestock were united to form a single whole.

On the ground floor there used to be a hall or vestibule, which even served as the centre of social relations in the months of good weather; it was the place where people ate and carried out the different tasks, as it was the coolest place in the house. In this lower part of the house were located the hayloft and the stable. If there was a second floor, it was where the alcoves or bedrooms were located, some of them indoors, without direct light from the outside.

Here was born Nazario Salvador López, better known as Nazarite: Popular writer, vocational novelist, self-taught, with a clear, simple and direct style; who cultivated with remarkable success most of the literary genres; from creative literature such as short stories, letrillas de pasodobles (lyrics of pasodobles), to essays, and journalistic vignettes for newspapers such as Ya, Arriba, Pueblo, El Alcázar, Hoy de Badajoz, La voz del Tajo, Diario de Ávila and many others. For more than 50 years he found unusual perspectives, poetizing intimate feelings and full of human, historical and dreamy notes in his chronicles, as well as in his twenty novels.

Nazario: A simple and humble man, a doer of good in dedication to others, driven by his moral convictions, also by his deep Christian faith; perhaps only in this way can one understand his being an imitator of his great God (one and triune God); in the same way, a single Nazario Salvador López and triune in pseudonyms: «Almánzor», «Galayar» and «Nazarite»,…. always accompanied by the muse of his thoughts, and thus, after receiving inspiration, sign his works and immortalize the land that gave birth to him,… Arenas De San Pedro.

Salvador was the official gardener of the Constable for his services in Arenas de San Pedro; here he settled and his descent reaches the XIX century…. with the first data of ownership of this house in favor of Brígida Agapito López and her husband César Salvador, who among other professions, was a seller of stories and press (It is not surprising that his youngest son Nazario became a writer); although who inherited the house was another of his 7 sons, Telesforo (blacksmith by trade), teacher of his son-in-law Silverio, who married one of his daughters, «Julia» to whom he donated the house as a dowry for her wedding in 1953.

In those years, for many people of Arenas, there were no holidays, every day was a working day. .. Silve and Julita got married on a Monday at 6:00 a.m., without a banquet or honeymoon…. «For them, this was only the beginning of their great effort, here their six children were born and raised: Cheli, Rafi, Pili, Daniel, Cesi and Berna Mesón Salvador. All of them currently reside in Arenas.

There is no memory, nor is there a written document that completes the history of this house,… A century-old house located in a town that has been burned on several occasions, causing the disappearance of municipal archives.

A house with Castilian relief,… The surnames prove it in the last two centuries, when Avila still belonged to Old Castile in 1833,… Surnames like: García, López, Jara, Feliú, Sánchez, Mesón, Barrero, and up to our days,… Sánchez and Rivera, Muñoz and Illán,… But there is a surname that acquires a special prominence: «Salvador». This surname is the one that indicates the origin of the family that owned this house in the last centuries. The surname Salvador comes from Veneto, region to the northeast of Italy; also from the north from Milan, capital of Lombardy; from there a young gardener came to our town, accompanying Ruy López Dávalos.

The Mozarabic communities reached a certain relevance in our population. The Arab or Mudejar quarter was located in our neighborhoods.  The presence of the street of «La Media Luna» (Half-moon) is more than an evocative memory, surely because it was usual, a master builder Moorish or Mudejar would be the one who drew the street and construction of the plant in the form of half moon in homage to his religion.

In the current No. 2, was the oven of Tía Pilar (aunt Pilar) that was heated with Jara and firewood … near is the testimony and far the memory of those who lived difficult times, times of the civil war, where the oven also worked clandestinely, to feed other people, «people who could not enter through the front door» and communicated by the party walls of the adjoining houses.

In just three steps we are in EL PORTILLO DEL MANJAR, a place for affection, a place where young engaged and marriageable couples used to frequent to take shelter in this small space, and share in intimacy no little confidence and best intentions, and is that, as the poet says:

 «I wish, here and now, to feel you and kiss you as the first time: closing my eyes tight and that my soul remains always with you».

Nos encontramos en el centro de Arenas, junto al ayuntamiento. Aquí es donde se decidió erigir la iglesia de Ntra. Sra. De la Asunción, con su exterior marcado por la simplicidad, si no fuera por la esbelta torre renacentista.

La construcción del templo en su estructura gótica data de principios del S. XV, mandada construir por el Duque del Infantado, D. Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (nieto de doña Juana de Pimentel y D. Álvaro de Luna), es un templo orientado, es decir, su muro principal, donde se cobija el Sagrario, está mirando a Jerusalén. La decoración de las bolas nos habla del característico gótico abulense, así como su magnífico púlpito de granito.

La iglesia está bajo la advocación de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.

Y es justamente en esta plaza donde está la Iglesia Parroquial de la Asunción

Nuestra iglesia posee dos pórticos que se abren a las naves centrales, uno al norte y otro al mediodía que es donde estamos, con sencillo arco apuntado que podría pertenecer al período inicial de la iglesia (S. XIV). Aquí desde 1503, se reunía el concejo de la villa para tratar asuntos a deliberar.

Por otro lado, hay constancia de otra Iglesia construida anteriormente que, en los inicios de la población de Arenas, fue dedicada a la Virgen Madre de Dios como “Iglesia de Santa María”. Se estima que este templo data de 1332, siendo Sumo Pontífice Juan XXII, por la firma de un buleto o pequeña bula (firmado por arzobispos y obispos), se concedían indulgencias plenarias a la Iglesia de Santa María de Arenas en algunos determinados días, especialmente festivos.

La arquitectura tradicional se conserva en nuestro “barrio moruno”. Son casas de piedra y cal con balconadas, vigas y troneras de madera. Generalmente, eran viviendas de estructura en bloque, en la que la zona de la vivienda y las estancias destinadas al ganado estaban unidas formando un único conjunto.

En la planta baja solía encontrarse el recibidor o zaguán, que incluso hacía de centro de relaciones sociales en los meses de buen tiempo; era lugar donde se comía y se realizaban las distintas labores por tratarse del lugar más fresco de la casa. En esta parte baja se ubicaban el pajar y la cuadra. Si existía un segundo piso, en él se ubicaban las alcobas o dormitorios, algunos de ellos interiores, sin luz directa del exterior.

Nuestra iglesia posee dos pórticos que se abren a las naves centrales, uno al norte y otro al mediodía que es donde estamos, con sencillo arco apuntado que podría pertenecer al período inicial de la iglesia (S. XIV). Aquí desde 1503, se reunía el concejo de la villa para tratar asuntos a deliberar.

Por otro lado, hay constancia de otra Iglesia construida anteriormente que, en los inicios de la población de Arenas, fue dedicada a la Virgen Madre de Dios como “Iglesia de Santa María”. Se estima que este templo data de 1332, siendo Sumo Pontífice Juan XXII, por la firma de un buleto o pequeña bula (firmado por arzobispos y obispos), se concedían indulgencias plenarias a la Iglesia de Santa María de Arenas en algunos determinados días, especialmente festivos.

Ahora, con algo de cuidado, nos asomaremos al lateral del puente, mirando hacia el norte, con la sierra de Gredos al fondo, … abajo a la izquierda, en el tercer ojo del fondo se conserva el caz que, partiendo del río en la propia localidad, conducía el agua para poder utilizar su fuerza…. volvemos hacia la plaza de las victimas…  Justo por donde hemos entrado, en el extremo del puente comienza la engorronada plaza, así llamada en memoria de los civiles masacrados por la furia napoleónica durante la guerra de Independencia, cuyos cuerpos fueron depositados aquí en tal improvisado tanatorio. Fue en 1809 cuando los franceses incendian la ciudad como represalia por la muerte de 24 soldados que habían sido asesinados al realizar una expedición en busca de víveres (cuenta la leyenda que estos soldados fueron emborrachados y reducidos posteriormente). En la represalia degüellan a más de 30 personas en distintos lugares del pueblo, saquean la iglesia y múltiples viviendas, e incendian el convento de los Agustinos; el pueblo queda desolado porque se han destruido con fuego, además del Ayuntamiento, más de 300 casas.

No sería la última vez que Arenas estuviera en llamas… el pueblo de nuevo sería incendiado con motivos de la I Guerra Carlista en 1838.

El fuego aparece siempre ligado a la historia de Arenas, una historia de lucha y devenir, donde hasta en el escudo aparece ardiendo el castillo con la inscripción:

«Siempre incendiada y siempre fiel.»

Mirando hacia el Norte, nos encontramos con el Puente Medieval de Aquelcabo que es el puente más antiguo de Arenas de San Pedro. Es de estilo gótico y consta de tres arcos, el central de mayor envergadura. Este puente es tradicionalmente mal llamado “puente romano” (ya que se construyó sobre un puente anterior, previsiblemente romano), se prevé que fue levantado entre los siglos XIV y XV, por lo que es de origen medieval. Fue muy utilizado por viajeros y pastores trashumantes, pagando previamente el portazgo o barcaje. era una fuente de ingresos para el señor, al tiempo que facilitaba la conducción de los rebaños trashumantes hacia el puerto del Peón o del Arenal. Debajo del puente Aquelcabo está el charco de la piedra de la olla que es donde todos los arenenses aprendimos a nadar.

Nos vamos acercando al puente para coronarlo,… hay una canción popular que recoge el amor y cariño de los arenenses o pilaretes, su letra dice así:

«Arenas es la más hermosa, población inmejorable. Te quiero más que a mi vida, más que a mi querida madre.

Y de rodillas te pido, que si tuviera dinero, a lo alto del puente romano, con letras de oro pondría un letrero diciendo:

Tú eres Arenas, la más hermosa del mundo entero.»

Nuestra Fuente de la Nava ha sido muy apreciada y transitada, ya que ella y su manantial son los que abastecían de agua a nuestro barrio, junto a la alejada fuente del Castañar.

Tiene una inscripción en la piedra donde aparece: “AÑO 1875”; Curiosamente hay pruebas de la existencia a principios de sigla, ya que se cita en el relato trágico de las víctimas de 1809:

“Diego Yáñez marido de Brígida Sánchez Villarejo, muerto a cuchilladas junto a la fuente de la Nava…”

Es una fuente de pilón pentagonal de piedra. No se trata del pilón original, ya que éste era mucho más grande. Posee dos caños encastrados en una pared de sillería de piedra, seguido de un friso y ornamentada por tres poliedros de granito. En unas de sus caras se puede apreciar en bajo relieve el Castillo arenense.

Esta fuente sirvió de inspiración a muchos artistas y cantares populares, como el que dice:

«Si la fuente La Nava corriera arrope, más de cuatro golosos irían de noche.»

Por cierto, “Arrope” son rebanada de Calabazas que se sumergen una noche en aguacal: por la mañana se sacan, seca y lavan, y se cuecen con higos blancos pasados y algo de azúcar. Una vez dejado enfriar, sólo queda degustar.

El Barrio de la Nava se caracteriza por ser uno de los barrios más antiguos de Arenas. ‘Nava’ significa terreno llano y sin árboles – hondonada. Su propio nombre describe a la perfección su ubicación en la villa, a las afueras de esta y al margen del río. En este barrio también nació en 1930, el pintor arenense de cobertura internacional, Victorio Rodríguez Gómez. Es un barrio pintoresco en el que destaca, nuestra” Fuente de la Nava”.

La nava siempre ha sido un lugar fértil y exótico; estaba rodeado de huertos, con todo un vergel de árboles frutales como Higueras, Melocotoneros, Duraznos, Abridores, Pavías, también había Ciruelos, Cermeños, Granados, parras, moras, zarzamoras…

Antiguamente, en el mes de junio se celebraba la gran fiesta de los barrios de Arenas, La Fiesta del Corpus”, en la que La nava siempre sobresalía ante los demás barrios, ya que todos los vecinos lo engalanaban con gran dedicación e ilusión; el Ayuntamiento pagaba la música, y la gente del barrio de manera particular y como un gran acto solidario, hacían perrunillas, mantecados y magdalenas que encargaban hornear por unos reales, para poder venderlo a los visitantes y presentes; Todo el dinero que se recaudaban por la venta de los dulces se donaba al convento de San Pedro de Alcántara.