Sobrado Abbey

Although it might not seem like it, this mass of water is artificial. It was created by monks of the Cistercian Order in the 16th century to use as a coenobium (a monks' retreat), which, at that time, enjoyed a time of great splendor. 

This coenobium is the breathtaking Sobrado Abbey, one of the biggest and most incredible highlights of the Camino de Santiago, and the most spectacular architectural enclave of the Camino del Norte.

As we approach the colossal building that emerges like a mirage in the middle of the natural landscape, we get a sense of the power the monastic community must have had to be able to develop this complex architecture on the same scale as early Galician cities.

Originally built before the 10th century, it was reclaimed in 1142 by a community of Cistercian monks who turned it into the first center of the Cistercian Order in Spain.

… and the elegant chapterhouse, a place for the monastery government to meet, a paradigm of Cistercian architecture with its pure lines.

In 1498, Sobrado was incorporated into the Congregation of Castile. Thus began an era of splendor in which the majority of the monastic spaces were renovated on a more monumental scale in more modern styles.

This is the case of the Renaissance vestry, one of the most spectacular examples in Spain. Although its original luxurious liturgic furniture has been lost, its huge size, more appropriate for a cathedral, is still testimony to the wealth of the Sobrado monks. 

For centuries, rooms at this monastery were so spacious and luxurious that the new archbishops of Santiago, before assuming responsibility, used to stay in this building with their full entourage. They had to await authorization from the Compostelan council, who exercised authority in the city of Santiago de Compostela when the seat was empty, to enter the city.

Pilgrims receive a reminder of this past greatness when arriving in Sobrado and gazing upon the elaborate facade of its church.  In Galicia, this Baroque front can only be compared with the facades of Lourenzá and the facade of the cathedral itself in Santiago de Compostela, and gives us a taste of what awaits us inside.

All the wealth stored over centuries reached a dramatic end. The ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal in 1834 caused the building to be abandoned. Disused, one of the richest monasteries of the kingdom fell into ruin, and practically all its artistic treasures, which are now missing, were pillaged.

Restoration measures began in the mid 20th century. These were accelerated in 1966, when a Cistercian community returned to settle in the monastery. Thus began the most recent renovations of the grand complex.