The Iglesiona de Vidíu, the most spectacular marine cave in Asturies

Cabu Vidíu, in Ouviñana, is one of the most impressive places on the Asturian coast. Its vertical cliffs of more than 80 meters high are only surpassed by those of Cabu Peñes, although in beauty they have nothing to envy to those of Cape Gozoniego.

The east face of the cape is the most spectacular of all and it is here where the cliffs formed by strata of quartzite and slate reach their highest height and verticality. One of the last colonies of Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) in the Iberian Peninsula settled on these cliffs, disappearing as a breeder in the middle of the last century. Currently, the yellow-legged gulls (Larus michaellis) and the shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) are the only representatives of the reproductive marine birds of the place. To the north, separated by a small channel, is the Horrión del Cabu, an islet about 30 meters high that some studies suggest that it could have its origin in the detachment of a large rock from the same cape.

The west face of Cabu Vidíu is less vertical and falls directly onto Peñadória beach. At the end of the cape, a lighthouse was built between 1948 and 1950, which was the last lighthouse built in Asturies and one of the last to be built in Spain.

But apart from the great beauty of the cape and the views from it, one of its greatest attractions is hidden in its bowels, going unnoticed by the vast majority of people who visit this place. Just below the lighthouse is one of the largest and most spectacular sea caves on the Asturian coast, the Iglesiona, which opens one of its three mouths, the largest, to the north, so it is only visible from the sea.

To access the cave from land you have to go down the cliff on the west side following a narrow and steep path that at the end has a drop of a couple of meters. A couple of days ago, we visited this cave with an exceptional guide, Alfonso, from Cai Milio, a lover of the area and a great connoisseur of this incredible place, and with Félix, who with the help of some ropes made the descent much easier. . As we were going to record a new chapter for the program de la Mar, which will start airing in a couple of weeks on RTPA, we had to lower a generator down the cliff, which was not an easy task, but as you can see in the pictures, the effort was worth it.

The entrance to the cave is through a small mouth that is uncovered at low tide. After going through a small tunnel, the cavity opens to let us see the impressive circular dome that rises up to 40 meters high.

As I have already mentioned, to visit the cave you have to access it at low tide and preferably with calm seas, since it is very exposed and during storm surges, the sea crosses the cave from one side to the other, so it can be very dangerous.

To the west, one of the three entrances to the cave opens to reveal part of the western coast of the Cuideiru coast and in the background the coastal mountain ranges of the Valdés council.

After Alfonso told us about the secrets of the Iglesiona and blew the conch with which years ago the sailors alerted the ships on foggy days, it was time to leave. The tide was coming in and the cave would be closed until the next low tide.

Source: http://www.naturalezacantabrica.es/2015/02/la-iglesiona-de-vidiu-la-cueva-marina.html