covered land previously preserved for Royal Hunting grounds. These lands had been valued for their wilderness, which was described in the chronicles, and was rich in bears and other wild fauna. Later documents, in particular a Royal Charter of 1206, gave precise jurisdiction of the valleys and prescribed their inhabitants as constituents of the Royal village of Espinosa de los Monteros ("Monteros" is the name of the Royal Household Guards of the Chamber). A sense of aversion and hostility in the face of their privileges and free roaming style must have been held later by their more settled neighbors, who saw them as a distinctive element of different origin. Religious architecture During the 16th and 17th centuries large convents or monasteries were founded, as El Soto and the Franciscan monastery of La Canal, as well as Baroque churches, built by artisans and artists of the comarca. In those centuries, emigration to the "Indies" was also very popular. The Indianos (Enriched Spaniards returned from the Americas), at their return, built churches or contributed to the building of chapels, towers, or the acquisition of works of art for the Church. The best examples are in the Obra Pía chapel of Bárcena de Carriedo, founded by the Indiano Manuel Rodríguez, or the reconstruction of the San Miguel de Llerana church, which also added the sacristy and the greater altarpiece to the existing church. In the tower of the same church a museum has been fit out about the Indianos of Carriedo Valley. Municipalities The comarca consists of thirteen municipalities, listed below with their areas and populations: Pas valley The Pas-Pisueña valley is located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, and through it flow the Pas River and its main tributary, the Pisueña River, which joins the Pas in the township of Vargas, part of the municipality of Puente Viesgo. Miera valley The Miera valley is a natural valley located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, travelled by the Miera River. It is in itself a natural comarca, and the narrowest of the Cantabrian valleys. Its slopes are most noticeable and its peaks very high (Castro Valnera at 1,707 m over sea level). The valley occupies partially or totally the municipalities of Soba, San Roque de Riomiera, Miera, Liérganes, Riotuerto, Medio Cudeyo and Ruesga (Calseca enclave). In its morphology are remarkable the sandstones and limestones, and the vast deposits of debris originated by ancient