Northern Spain Part 3: Covarrubias and Santo Domingo de Silos

The final part of our trip was to the small towns of Covarrubias and Santo Domingo de Silos.  The first on our stop, Covarrubias, is a picturesque town on the Arlanzón river.

Much of the city is still much as it would have been two or three hundred years ago. The construction of the many of the buildings is of beams and adobe

This town was once the home of the one of Spain's most powerful nobles, Fernan González.  He is buried in the small church in the town.

You will also find the "Torre de Urraca," a beautifully constructed Medieval fortress located in the middle of the city. The fortress was built in the 12th century.

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That same afternoon we traveled to Santo Domingo de Silos and its well-known monastery. The monastery was first established under the name of San Sebastian in the 10th century. In the 11th century Saint Dominic arrived and began to add to the existing monastery of Gregorian monks.  The site is famous for its cloister that holds some of Romanesque art's most outstanding pieces, including the pier sculptures that depict the life of Christ.

The cloister is a collection of amazing columns, each with a distinct, decorative capitol. These capitols represent scenes from the life of Christ, dragons, pine cones, and other natural elements.