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Founding of San Pedro de Eslonza

Gradefes, Tierras de León, León

1 Villages · 5 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones

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Founding of San Pedro de Eslonza

Historical milestone · Gradefes, Tierras de León, León

Image of Gradefes, not of the place itself.

García I, first king of León, founded the Benedictine monastery of San Pedro de Eslonza in 912, near Santa Olaja de Eslonza, in the municipality of Gradefes, under the patronage of Santa Eulalia and the saints Peter and Paul; it became the second most important monastery in the province, after that of San Benito de Sahagún. Almanzor destroyed it in 988; it was rebuilt in 1099 by the infanta Urraca de Zamora, daughter of Fernando I, and over time, through Sancha Raimúndez, it adopted the Rule of Cluny. Renovated from 1547 with three Renaissance portals and a large Baroque façade, it fell into ruin after Mendizábal's disentailment of 1836, which sold it off and stripped it piece by piece; its scant remains are still considered a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection).

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Photo: Simon Burchell (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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