Palencia Monasteries
Monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas
Dates back to the 10th century. A primitive Visigoth foundation
which was incorporated to Luny by Alfonso VI from 1060 to 1075.
A church with three naves with a transept and three apses, separated
by cruciform pillars without columns.The doorway is Romanesque.The
oldest part, still preserved today is the gable end door and the
rectangular turret.The capitals are reminiscent of Frómista
and Silos.
It has undergone many modifications over the centuries, the cells
as well as the refectory, built in the 16th century were reformed
in the 18th century.The modern altarpiece is the work of Felix
Granda.There is a monastic cemetery.
It is strictly religious and is not a hostal. The Casa de Retiro
and centre for prayers.Religious community belonging to the Orden
Cisterciense de la Estrecha Observación.The guest quarters
are for those seeking spiritual rest and prayer. There is no museum
or visits to the monastery, those staying here can take part in
mass. There is no set price for staying, instead people make donations.
Inhabited by the well known trapense monks from Palencia it is
about 13 km from the city, very near to the confluence of the
rivers Carrión and Pisuerga. Gregorian hymns are sung in
sections of mass. It was founded during the reign of Alfonso III
el Magno(866-910).
Monastery of San Zoilo
Cluniac monastery from the 11th-12th centuries. There are 33 double
rooms and 4 suites, meeting rooms and a restaurant serving traditional
Castilian food.
It was founded in the 10th century under the name of San Juan
Bautista. Renovated during the 11th century.Its name changed to
San Zoilo. Originally it was ascribed to the Benedictine order
but over the centuries it has belonged to Clunians and Jesuits,
and not many years ago it was a Minor Seminary.
Well worth a visit is the Plateresque cloister, a work by Juan
de Badajoz, Pedro Torres, Juan de Bobadilla, Juan de Celaya, Miguel
Espinosa... The work began in 1537 and ended in 1604.
Its galleries, arches, mouldings, columns, etc., are decorated
with finely sculpted portraits of patriarchs, saints and kings.
Monastery of Santa Clara
Built in the 13th century, it has undergone many alterations.
It is a convent for nuns of the Order of St Clare, founded by
Doña Juana, Enrique II's wife.The Gothic building was initially
a mausoleum for the Enríquez family, Admirals of Castilla.
The church belongs to Flamboyant Gothic style, with a Greek cross
plan and a coffered ceiling over the lower floor.There are also
several altarpieces from the 16th and 18th centuries; the main
altarpiece is the work of Pedro de Correas. It houses some works
by Gregorio Fernández (the Piedad and maybe the Christ).
Monastery of Santa Clara Palacio Pedro I
Built in the 14th and 15th centuries. A complex including two
palaces: the Palacio de Pedro I El Cruel, and the Palacio de Doña
María de Padilla, nowadays Museo de la Diputación
Provincial (Provincial Council Museum).
The monastery portal and plasterwork are of Mudejar style. The
cloister has been extensively renovated.A single nave with coffered
ceiling. Restored Mudejar rooms.
Monastery of Santa Cruz de la Zarza or Santa
Cruz de Ribas
Built in the 13th to 16th centuries.It is in semi-ruins.Of the
monastery only the church remains with its vestry and chapter
room where there are both Romanesque and Gothic influences.
In 1176 this monastery was populated by Premostratense monks who
came from Retuerta.The central apse is polygonal and the side
walls in arris style.Gothic reforms were later carried out.
The chapter room is made up of nine arched sections in arris style,
mounted on double columns on the walls and four central free standing
columns.
The capitals are varied and some were made by well known maestros,
they consist of vertical flowers, acanthus finished in cones,
taps facing each other, animals sculptured onto vegetation and
scenes representing two knights confronting each other in a tournament,
a theme much repeated in Romanesque Palencia.
Monastery of Santa Eufemia de Cozuelos
Built in two eras, the Romanic and the Cistercian, in the mid
12th century.Built in the first half of the 12th century.Of one
nave in two sections, covered with a Cistercian ceiling (the church
belonged to a monastery) and a dome.
The Frómista style headpiece, the typical sculptures of
the Camino de Santiago and the Cistercian, are the three styles
featured here.
There is a triple apse, the centre one is wider with two buttresses
symmetrically placed in the central window.Attached to the northern
wall of the church is an atrium or enclosed gallery with only
one exit to the exterior.
There are 18th century Baroque altarpieces and two tombs of the
16th century where Pedro Fernández Vicario and the Abbott
of Cardeña are buried.
Palencia guide