{"id":3699,"date":"2022-04-21T09:53:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T07:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/v1.lariojapremium.com\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2023-07-27T15:47:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T13:47:52","slug":"monasterios-medievales-de-la-rioja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v1.lariojapremium.com\/en\/rioja\/monasterios-medievales-de-la-rioja\/","title":{"rendered":"#7 Medieval Monasteries of La Rioja full of history, heritage and mysticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rioja has been inhabited since time immemorial, and every era has left its mark<\/strong> on our land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post you can discover an important part of the heritage and cultural wealth of La Rioja<\/strong> through 7 of its monasteries<\/strong> more impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A monastery is not just a building, it is a a sacred place<\/strong> which for some reason was chosen to erect the majestic temple we can see today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monasteries are history, strategic places of war, wisdom and mysticism<\/strong>The project has been a great success, but without the impetus of its founders it would not have been possible to carry it out, and the waste of resources is sometimes so ineffable, can only be understood from the most spiritual part of the human being.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Monasterio de Valvanera la Patrona de La Rioja<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Monasterio<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Monastery of Valvanera is located in in the middle of nature<\/strong> at an altitude of 1000 metres above sea level. Valvanera being the Patron Saint of La Rioja.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of its foundation<\/strong> is recounted in the Latin History<\/em>written in 1419 by Rodrigo de Castroviejo (Abbot of Valvanera), as a translation of a 12th century Latin text probably written by Gonzalo de Berceo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says that the thief Nu\u00f1o O\u00f1ez<\/strong>hearing the prayer of his intended victim, he repented of his crimes, commending himself to the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One day during his prayers, an angel appeared to him, telling him to go to the valley of Valvanera in search of an oak tree that stood out from the others<\/strong>At the foot of which a fountain sprang up and which contained several swarms of bees, where he found an image of the Virgin Mary. He went there with the cleric Domingo de Brieva and found the image. Between the two of them they moved it to a nearby cave in a rocky outcrop, where they would build the first hermitage<\/strong>located in the current neoclassical chapel of Santo Cristo to worship the Virgin\".<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery would give rise to the Monastery of Valvanera, as the image would gather around the image of the monastery. group of hermits<\/strong> who over time adopted a regular life inspired by the Rule of Saint Benedict, the first Abbot of the Monastery being Don Sancho in 990.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Monasterio<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first Visigothic church<\/strong> was built in the 10th century with the arrival of the first hermits, it would be succeeded by the other pre-Romanesque<\/strong> consecrated in 1073. And behind it was built a Romanesque church<\/strong>. The is from the late Gothic<\/strong>from the end of the 14th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the 16th century, numerous reforms were carried out<\/strong> The building of an abbey chamber, the access stairs, the library, the refectory and new cells, among others, were built on the cloister building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 17th century,<\/strong> the new porter's lodge, the new kitchens, and one of the most characteristic features of the monastery, the arcade gallery<\/strong> of the south fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doorway on the south fa\u00e7ade, and the current entrance to the guesthouse, was built during the renovation of 1763.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1835 and 1883, however, the monastery was abandoned<\/strong> as a consequence of the disentailment of Mendiz\u00e1bal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Monastery of Valvanera a beautiful circular route of 4.5km <\/strong>affordable for everyone to enjoy the surrounding nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a curiosity, every year on the last Saturday of April the The Valvanerada<\/strong> a walk that leaves Logro\u00f1o at 8pm and covers the 63.2 km that separate the city from the Monastery.<\/p>\n\n\n