Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in San Esteban de Nogales

What to see and do in San Esteban de Nogales (La Bañeza, León): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

Towns near San Esteban de Nogales

Spain › Castile and León › León › La Bañeza › San Esteban de Nogales

What to see and do in San Esteban de Nogales

San Esteban de Nogales
Village
San Esteban de Nogales is a village in the comarca of La Valdería, in León, situated at 782 metres next to the río Eria. In 1150 Count Vela Gutiérrez donated this territory, received as an inheritance from Alfonso VII, to a religious order, and in 1164 his widow gave her possessions to Moreruela to found the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Nogales. The monks governed the comarca until disentailment and gave rise to the town itself; today only ruins remain, with the church's bell-gable and the entrance arch bearing its coat of arms. The Hermitage of San Jorge, according to tradition, arose in the mid-17th century from a clash between the village, which wanted its own church, and the abbot of the monastery; every 23 April the fight of San Jorge with the dragon is re-enacted. It has about 240 inhabitants.
Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario
Monument
Its first phase was opened on 4 October 1896 with stone from the Sierra de Arrabalde, to plans by the engineer Rogelio Cañas signed by the architect Arsenio Alonso. The tower, built with stone from the monastery, was opened in 1911.
Hermitage of San Jorge y el puente de aliso
Monument
The hermitage was deliberately built on the far side of the River Eria, so that the river would have to be crossed. Every year the villagers rebuild in a communal work day an alder-wood bridge that the winter floods carry off without fail.
Festival of San Jorge de San Esteban
Activity
On 23 April, declared of provincial interest: a procession to the hermitage crossing the newly built alder bridge, a stick dance, the singing of the ramo and a street performance with fireworks of the saint's fight with the dragon.
Mount of encina y riberas del Eria
Nature
The district alternates scrubland of holm oak, rockrose and thyme with the banks of the Eria, where broad poplar groves open out. It is a landscape of transition between the cereal moorland and the ranges that close off La Valdería to the south.
Donation of the Valdería to the Cistercians
Historical milestone
Count Vela Gutiérrez and his wife Sancha Ponce handed over in 1150 to a religious order the territory of Valdería with all its holdings, including the town called Nogales, which they themselves had received as an inheritance from Alfonso VII.