C A N T A B R I A   U N I V E R S I T Y
 
 
   
 
  ARTISTIC ROUTES IN LIÉBANA   From la Hermida to Potes
From Potes to Fuente Dé
From Potes to Piedrasluengas
From Potes to San Glorio
Map
 
De Potes a Fuente Dé .  
    Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana   Leaving Potes, along the road to Fuente Dé, a few kilometres after, there is a turning to the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana, a religious and pilgrimage centre in which the relic of the Lignum Crucis is kept. It is located at the foot of the Picos de Europa massif, on the hillside of the mount of Viorna. Monastic activity took place in Liébana from the times of king Alfonso I, this being one of the many monasteries built thanks to the settlement policy in Liébana. It was originally the monastery of San Martín de Turieno, where the Beato de Liébana lived, a monk who wrote the Commentary on the Apocalypse of San Juan in the 8th century, and who was later painted by the Mozarabic miniaturists which we know at present as the Mozarabic miniatures called the Beatos. The earliest documentary data which exist tell of a convent in the surroundings of Turieno. The present church is Gothic (which underwent a thorough renovation in the 16th, 18th and 20th centuries), although several excavations in its 17th century cloister revealed Romanesque and pre-Romanesque remains. The paintings of different 10th and 11th century Spanish Beatos is seen on its walls. In the Northern nave the Baroque chapel of the Lignum Crucis was built, one of the most interesting Baroque monuments in Cantabria. The Monastery of Santo Toribio was the nucleus of an ensemble of hermitages spread in the surroundings, of which very few remain at present and are almost ruined. It is worth highlighting the chapel of Santa Catalina and San Miguel.

Returning to the road to Fuente Dé, one reaches the village of Turieno where the Baroque house of Francisco de Otero and Cossío outstands. Following is Los Llanos from which Mogrovejo can be reached 3 kilometres up the hill. Here, a medieval tower with battlements can be seen with the Picos de Europa behind. A noble casona, renovated in the 19th century, stands by the tower with an attached chapel and one of the best 15th century carvings of virgins of Flemish influence in Cantabria can be found in the church of this village. The whole place is characterised by a very well-preserved popular architecture. Going on to Fuente Dé, a few kilometres away, is the village of Cosgaya, where the Baroque casonas of Gómez de la Cortina and Cosgaya outstand. Finally, the villages of Las Ilces, Pido and Espinama can be found, where there are examples of the above-mentioned barns.

     
   
 
   
 
Chapel of the Lignum Crucis
(Santo Toribio de Liébana)
   
 
Tower of Mogrovejo
 
   
                             
  A R T I S T I C   R O U T E S