Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liebana
Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liebana
4.5
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This 17th-century monastery contains what is reputed to be a splinter from Christ's cross.
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4.5
234 reviews
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70
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28
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5
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Aticus 48
Madrid, Spain1,305 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
An essential visit to the Liébana valley, especially as it coincides with the Lebaniego Holy Year until Spring 2024, so on certain days and at certain times it can be very crowded. The pilgrim mass is at 12. Large parking lot that could collapse during days and hours of overcrowding of visitors.
Written 8 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David
10 contributions
Sept 2024 • Family
The Monastery houses the relic of the Lignum Crucis, the largest piece of the cross where Jesus Christ died crucified.
The visit is free and worthwhile, because the location is very nice, between the valleys. From the same monastery, there are small (short distance) routes to several Hermitages in the area.
The visit is free and worthwhile, because the location is very nice, between the valleys. From the same monastery, there are small (short distance) routes to several Hermitages in the area.
Automatically translated
Written 11 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brian K
Washington DC, DC57 contributions
Aug 2016 • Couples
Great surprise to find this monastery up in the Picos de Europa. Entrance is free and a destination of the pieces of the holy cross are in Spanish only.
Written 25 August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Judy P
Oxfordshire, UK61 contributions
Aug 2016 • Couples
Just a few km outside Potes on the road towards Fuente De, and well signposted, this is a fabulous place to stop off. No charge for parking or entrance, it has toilets but no cafe or other facilities. I'd recommend visiting early in the morning, as it is busy with coach parties later on. For Roman Catholics, this is one of the great holy places for pilgrims, alongside Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de la Compostela. You can see here a fabled piece of the 'True Cross', and the monastery itself has been here since the time of the Visigoths in the 8th century! I was captivated by the fact that the book at the centre of the book and film The Name of the Rose, was written by a monk called St Beato living here in the 8th century, at a time when the future of Christianity hang in the balance. Also not to be missed are the many hermitages dotted around on the hills surrounding. You can easily walk to these, but beware! the signposting is intermittent so memorise your routes up so you can easily get back down. Don't miss La Cueva Santa, the oldest sanctuary, dating from the 8th century.
Written 17 August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kilroyr
Vantaa, Finland122 contributions
Mar 2016
It took 2.5 hour drive from Bilbao but was worth the visit. We had a chance to see Holy Cross outside of it's cabin and a chance to touch it. Last 40 km of drive is challenging but a great fun, if you like narrow mountain roads as I did ;-)
Written 29 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bob P
Burlington, Canada511 contributions
May 2015 • Couples
This Roman Catholic Monastery is stunning, situated along side the Cantabrian mountains, just outside the town of Potes. Potes is very much worth seeing and is a beautiful quaint town. The monastery was founded in the 6th - 7th century, so there is lots of history here, the monastery reveres they have the largest piece of the Lignum Crucis discovered in Jerusalem by Saint Helena of Constantinople. Brought from the Church the left arm of the True Cross is kept on a gilded silver shrine or container. We read a lot about it but when we went there, the Monastery was just closing..... so we walked around the grounds. Also to note is the Gothic church that sits on this property, construction started mid 12 hundreds, though it has been remodeled several times since. It is built on the site of a Romanesque building. When in Potes, we really enjoyed visiting the area, there was so much to see including this Monastery and a town called Mogrovejo- very close by. The very small medieval town of Mogrovejo with it's Alpine style houses is very interesting and is a must see with the Monastery. It is also considered one of Spains most beautiful villages. The surrounding area is a farming community, in the mountains. While there we enjoyed the beautiful buildings, nature and seeing chickens roaming their owners properties. Delightful area, highly recommend to anyone to visit for it's beauty, history and culture. We enjoyed this part of our journey in which we toured much of Northern Spain, Girona and Barcelona.
Written 19 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katemilypalmer
25 contributions
We visited the Monastery and saw the True Cross. Apparently, I kissed the Cross at the nail hole for Jesus' left wrist.
Written 4 June 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Caroline H
Chichester, UK2,014 contributions
Oct 2019
Santo Toribio de Liébana monastery is two miles south of Potes.
Pope Julius II, granted the privilege of celebrating the Jubilee Year of Lebaniego, making the monastery an important pilgrimage centre. It is only about and hour and 15 minutes away from Garabandal - an important site where Our Lady visited 4 young Spanish girls in 1961 and where we had just stayed for 4 days.
We were staying at La Casa Chimeneas, close to Potes on the second part of our holiday. Having been to Santo Toribo before, we decided to pay another visit and enjoyed it just as much.
Santo Toribo is built in Gothic style, with a Cistercian influence. A Romanesque construction previously stood on this site, as well as some shrines carved out of the rocks of which remnants can still be seen.
The most significant part of this church is the Baroque chapel known as Lignum Crucis. In the 8th century Christian refugees were fleeing from Muslim occupied Spain to Liebana and took with them the Lígnum Crucis, said to be the single largest chunk of Christ’s cross and featuring the hole made by the nail that passed through Christ's left hand. It is kept inside a 17th-century crucifix of gold-plated silver in an 18th-century baroque chapel. Fr. Sandoval, of the Benedictine order, wrote that this relic was the "left arm of the Holy Cross. It was sawn and assembled in the form of a cross, leaving intact the hole.
Illuminated manuscripts of Beato's work are also found here. About 25 survive today, dating between the 9th and 13th centuries. The monastery's cloister shows replicas, but the original text was lost. The Lígnum Crucis is kept inside a 17th-century crucifix of gold-plated silver in a lavish 18th-century baroque chapel.
While visiting, a coach tour were being shown around and the chapel was opened to enable the visitor's to kiss the relic.
The Monastery is open to the public every day, all year round. An explanation, blessing, and veneration of the Lignum Crucis (The True Cross) are available. Visiting hour schedules do change so it is best to phone beforehand.
While visiting we afterwards drove another 500m past the monastery to the small 13th-century Ermita de San Miguel (St Michael the Archangel).
There are some great panoramic mountain views from this point.
Pope Julius II, granted the privilege of celebrating the Jubilee Year of Lebaniego, making the monastery an important pilgrimage centre. It is only about and hour and 15 minutes away from Garabandal - an important site where Our Lady visited 4 young Spanish girls in 1961 and where we had just stayed for 4 days.
We were staying at La Casa Chimeneas, close to Potes on the second part of our holiday. Having been to Santo Toribo before, we decided to pay another visit and enjoyed it just as much.
Santo Toribo is built in Gothic style, with a Cistercian influence. A Romanesque construction previously stood on this site, as well as some shrines carved out of the rocks of which remnants can still be seen.
The most significant part of this church is the Baroque chapel known as Lignum Crucis. In the 8th century Christian refugees were fleeing from Muslim occupied Spain to Liebana and took with them the Lígnum Crucis, said to be the single largest chunk of Christ’s cross and featuring the hole made by the nail that passed through Christ's left hand. It is kept inside a 17th-century crucifix of gold-plated silver in an 18th-century baroque chapel. Fr. Sandoval, of the Benedictine order, wrote that this relic was the "left arm of the Holy Cross. It was sawn and assembled in the form of a cross, leaving intact the hole.
Illuminated manuscripts of Beato's work are also found here. About 25 survive today, dating between the 9th and 13th centuries. The monastery's cloister shows replicas, but the original text was lost. The Lígnum Crucis is kept inside a 17th-century crucifix of gold-plated silver in a lavish 18th-century baroque chapel.
While visiting, a coach tour were being shown around and the chapel was opened to enable the visitor's to kiss the relic.
The Monastery is open to the public every day, all year round. An explanation, blessing, and veneration of the Lignum Crucis (The True Cross) are available. Visiting hour schedules do change so it is best to phone beforehand.
While visiting we afterwards drove another 500m past the monastery to the small 13th-century Ermita de San Miguel (St Michael the Archangel).
There are some great panoramic mountain views from this point.
Written 1 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mike
Birmingham, UK158 contributions
Jul 2016 • Family
A couple of kilometres up a steep road out of Potes, this is an interesting place to spend an hour or so. Free entry with a large car park, access is easy. The monastery is nice and at selected times you can see remnants of 'the cross' with a queue of people waiting to kiss it. If you're in Potes or the local area then it's well worth a visit.
Written 25 July 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Azzaozz
Santander, Spain4 contributions
May 2011
An interesting place to stop on your way to Potes and if your lucky youmay be able to touch a piece from the crucifix of Christ.
Written 22 April 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
we will be in santiago de compostela and then visit santo toribio de liebana , what is the best transport to go there
Written 20 October 2015
Its a long way from Santiago , so if you dont have a car you will have to get to Santander and continue from there by bus to Potes ,it takes 2.5 hrs . The monastery is a 45 minute walk (uphill) from the village . Just noticed the date on this post, but the info might help someone
Written 22 September 2019
Can you see the cross on any day, or only during certain hours
Written 19 July 2015
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