The Parador of Monforte de Lemos
The Parador of Monforte de Lemos stands on a hill overlooking the town and we stayed here once before, in 2019. I gave a brief history of the site once before and so this is a slightly different post. It … Continued
San Millan de la Cogolla
We made another day trip, to San Millán de la Cogolla,1 to see the Monastery of Yuso. Together with the nearby Monastery of Suso the two monasteries form a World Heritage Site. The drive A brief history The Monastery of … Continued
Monastery of San Martin Pinario
I had of course heard of the Cathedral in Santiago, but didn’t know about this astonishing building. The original Benedictine Monastery of San Martín Pinario dates from 6C and is named for the pines (pignario) in which the buildings stood. Today’s buildings mainly date from … Continued
The Monastery of San Pedro de Eslonza
It had been a wonderful day visiting extraordinary monasteries in the countryside around Léon. As we were driving back I noticed a sign showing an historical site. In a spur of the moment decision I pulled off the road to … Continued
Santa Maria la Real in Gradefes
Le Tart Abbey in France was established in 1132 as the first Cistercian Convent for women, I believe. The first Cistercian Convent in Spain followed in 1151 in Tulebras. In 1168 Santa Maria la Real in Gradefes was founded and … Continued
The Monastery of Santa Maria de Sandoval
The Monastery of Santa Maria de Sandoval was an interesting church outside Leon which had caught my attention. But we needed a car to visit the Monastery! The car had shown ominous messages as we drove to Leon. A very … Continued
Lebena & Frama and churches 1,000 years old
At the Monastery at San Toribio I saw a map with the names of monasteries and churches in the surrounding areas. We were staying in Cambarco and nearby there were important monasteries, so off we went to explore! Lebeña and … Continued
Monastery of San Toribio near Potes
The Monastery of San Toribio near Potes is apparently only one of five sites in Christianity that can issue a perpetual indulgence.
A walk through Beja in Portugal
Visiting an area or town for the first time usually means seeing the ‘obvious’ sights first, returning if there is time and I particularly enjoyed something, then I move on to the ‘secondary’ sights, and after that I am free … Continued