Torre de Villademoros

The Torre de Villademoros is a medieval tower incorporated into an 18th-century manor house that now operates as a hotel, sitting at the heart of the Entrecabos protected landscape in Asturian Valdés, between the capes of Vidío and Busto. The combination of military architecture and rural manor makes it one of the more unusual places to stay along this stretch of the Asturian coast.

The tower itself is considered one of the finest surviving examples of late medieval stately military architecture in Asturias, though its origins may reach back considerably further. Some historians argue it began as a Roman defensive watchtower, later consolidated and repurposed by the Asturian kings. A Roman seal and coins discovered near the tower lend some weight to this theory. According to this reading of the evidence, the Normans destroyed the structure during the reign of King Ramiro, after which it was rebuilt in the 10th century and gradually elaborated over the following centuries.

The tower is closely tied to the Valdés lineage, one of the significant noble families of medieval Asturias. Tradition holds that a knight named Pelayo, head of that line and described as a contemporary of King Pelayo, the founder of the Asturian monarchy, lived here and led four hundred men from the fields around Luarca to aid the king, intercepting and defeating a force of Moors retreating toward Galicia at Cornellana. A later story concerns his grandson Diego Peláez, who remained loyal to the legitimate Asturian kings during the reign of the usurper Mauregato, went to Galicia in royal service, and returned to find his tower occupied by Moorish soldiers holding captive women. He challenged the captain in command, who surrendered without a fight on hearing of Diego's reputation. This episode is commemorated in the coat of arms carved on the east facade of the attached house, depicting an armed knight holding a lance and a red cross before the tower, with a Moor bound to a walnut tree.

The heraldic carving and the tower itself give the place a layered quality rare even in a region full of medieval stonework. Whether arriving as a guest or passing through, the east facade and its inscribed shield are worth examining closely.