Peñalva de santiago
Que hacer cerca de león
El abad Salomón promovió la construcción de la iglesia en la primera mitad del siglo X, época de prosperidad en el Reino de León. Se terminó en el reinado de Ramiro II, que amplió los límites de su reino más allá del río Duero. Ramiro II hizo múltiples donaciones a la iglesia y al monasterio.
La decoración de la iglesia es una mezcla de elementos celtas, incluyendo símbolos lunares y astrales; influencias bizantinas que se aprecian en su planta de cruz griega; elementos árabes, especialmente una pequeña cúpula de techo de paraguas que cubre el altar principal; e influencia mozárabe, que se aprecia en sus famosos arcos de herradura.
Villages of leon
And the truth is that now we can confirm that there is much more than a heritage site, because in this visit you can stroll through a charming village, among well-preserved stone buildings that make up a beautiful set of rural architecture, as you can see at the end of this video attached.
Specifically, Pe帽alba de Santiago is located in the mountainous area known as Tebaida Berciana, a very isolated and difficult to access place where from the 6th century onwards Christian hermitages were established in search of a place of retreat to dedicate themselves to meditation.
History tells us that, in the 7th century, St. Fructuosus founded a small oratory in what is now known as the Valley of Silence, and later, in the 10th century, St. Genadius founded the monastery of Peñalba in memory of St. James the Apostle.
Of this monastery, over the centuries has been preserved only the building of Mozarabic architecture, which is known as the church of Santiago de Pe帽alba, and which you will be able to visit on your trip to this charming village.
San miguel de escalada
Another of the particularities of the Church of Santiago are the historical graffiti. On the walls of the church there are engravings that are believed to have been made by the Benedictine monks, a community that lived here until the twelfth century.
Very close to the village, in a rocky wall that rises vertically at the entrance of the Valley of Silence, the Cave of San Genadio, where the Saint sought retreat when he was bishop of Astorga and where legend has it that the river is hidden in response to the order of the Saint to silence the murmur of its waters.
Wikipedia
To access this village, declared a historic-artistic site in 1976, you have to walk through the entire valley that in its time was also called the path of the monks. Just the walk to reach this viewpoint is worth it.
From here you can see the magnificence of the vegetation, virgin and lush, in a wide spectacle enclosed by the high cliffs, with the peaks of Silla de la Yegua, Pico Tuerto and Aguiana.
The exterior, of pure lines and marked simplicity, dazzles. In the distance it rises as a harmonious set of different prisms of various heights. One of the most striking elements of the temple is the access door, the southern one, with a double horseshoe arcade, framed in an alfiz and supported by three marble columns, topped with Mozarabic capitals. The founder, San Genadio, was buried inside the church, as was Urbano, one of his successors.
