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Monastery of Santo
Toribio de Liébana |
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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.
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