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Stage of the Camino

Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana to Potes

From Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liébana To Potes

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Destination

Potes

Distance

2.90 km

Duration

0.75 h

Difficulty

Baja

Ascent

10 m

Descent

210 m

Stage of the Camino

Stage Description

A short epilogue to the Lebaniego Way linking the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana with the town of Potes, capital of the region. After earning the Lebaniega jubilee before the Door of Forgiveness and venerating the Lignum Crucis, the pilgrim descends along an old path that avoids the road, skirting the cemetery wall and dropping between farmsteads and chestnut groves to the valley floor. It is less than three kilometres, mostly a gentle descent, with the eastern massif of the Picos de Europa in the background. The arrival in Potes, set between the Deva and Quiviesa rivers and watched over by the Torre del Infantado, offers the natural close of the pilgrimage: a medieval old town of bridges and lanes in which to recover before heading home or up into the Picos.
The stretch between the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana and Potes is the epilogue of the Lebaniego Way, once the spiritual goal of the route has been reached. It is barely 2.9 kilometres, descending from the monastery's roughly 490 metres to the 291 of the town of Potes, with a negative gradient of about 200 metres and no notable difficulty. Despite its brevity, it is a walk full of meaning: it closes the Lebaniego pilgrimage and returns the walker to the heart of Liébana.

The walk begins on the esplanade of the Franciscan monastery, home to the Lignum Crucis —the largest surviving fragment of the Cross of Christ— and to the Door of Forgiveness, which opens only in a Lebaniego Jubilee Year. From here, an old traditional path avoids the CA-885 road: it descends alongside the cemetery wall and slips between farmsteads, meadows and chestnut groves, with the eastern massif of the Picos de Europa outlined in the background.

The trail loses height steadily but gently until it reaches the upper neighbourhoods of Potes. The town is entered along cobbled lanes leading to the confluence of the Deva and Quiviesa rivers, spanned by stone bridges, with the 15th-century Torre del Infantado and the church of San Vicente presiding over the scene.

Potes, capital of Liébana and one of the loveliest villages in Cantabria, offers the finest of endings: a medieval old town listed as a historic-artistic site, with arcades, taverns serving the Lebaniego stew and orujo spirit, and a privileged position as a base for venturing into the Picos de Europa. Here the Lebaniego Way comes to an end.

Last updated: 17/07/2026

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