A few kilometers west of Potes on the valley road, the Pre-Romanesque church of Santa María de Lebeña sits in a field below the cliff walls of the southern massif — a tenth century building of remarkable architectural sophistication for its period, surrounded by ancient yew trees and completely out of scale with the landscape around it in the way that very old things sometimes are.

It is open most days and the interior — small, stone, with horseshoe arches that show the Mozarabic influence of its construction period — takes about twenty minutes to absorb properly. The exterior, framed by the cliff faces of the Picos rising directly behind it, is the image most people leave with.

Fifteen minutes off the main valley road. No crowds. No ticket booth. Just a tenth century church in a field that has been standing in the same spot for over a thousand years and looks entirely settled about it.