San Juan de Ortega, Romanesque monastery in Barrios de Colina, Spain.
San Juan de Ortega is a Romanesque monastery in Barrios de Colina featuring three apses from the 12th century and Gothic arches. The complex includes two stone cloisters with different designs arranged around interior courtyards.
The monastery was founded in 1142 and initially served as a refuge for pilgrims under Augustinian canons. The Order of Los Jerónimos took over its management in 1432 and shaped its religious community.
The monastery displays a Gothic chapel with intricately carved capitals and a 15th-century stone relief showing scenes from the saint's life. These artistic details reflect the religious devotion that pilgrims and local people held for this holy figure.
The monastery offers accommodation with beds for pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago and operates a café for refreshments. Visitors should know this is primarily a working pilgrimage hostel, so viewing times may be limited.
During the equinoxes in March and September, a beam of sunlight enters through a window at 5 PM solar time and illuminates a stone Nativity sculpture inside. This phenomenon may have been intentionally designed by the monastery's architects to connect the place with cosmic events.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
