San Salvador de Valdediós

Latitude: 43.4380264 Length: -5.5071545
Open location in Google Maps

The monumental complex is located at the head of the Valdediós Valley, near the town of San Pedro de Ambás, in Villaviciosa.

El Císter and San Salvador de Valdediós

Prehistoric and Late Roman remains have been found in the vicinity of the site, although its period of splendor was during the Middle Ages, in the 9th century, when Alfonso III ordered the construction of the Church of San Salvador, and later, in the 13th century, the Cistercian monks decided to build the monastery. After centuries of expansion, decline began, culminating in the confiscation of church property. The building was then used for various purposes, which partially altered its appearance and partially slowed the deterioration to which it was exposed.

In the 80s , the School-Workshop took over the premises with a dual objective: to recover the artisan trades closely linked to the Restoration and, at the same time, to return the past splendor to these walls.

San Salvador de Valdediós, popularly known as "El Conventín" , as already mentioned, was founded by Alfonso III, and consecrated in the year 893 with the attendance of six bishops.

The building was, from the beginning, a sacred space, its purpose being the celebration of religious services. The existence of the so-called Royal Portico and the tribune suggests that Alfonso III attended services.

This church, in keeping with the Asturian Pre-Romanesque style , has a basilica floor plan, barrel vaults, and capitals carved with ornaments typical of the late Asturian style. It also preserves some original paintings and others from the 18th century.

But Valdediós is not just the Church of San Salvador; in this area, a first-rate architectural complex was developed over the centuries . The Cistercian monastery of Valdediós dates back to 1200, when King Alfonso IX and his wife, Doña Berenguela, granted a founding charter in Santiago de Compostela, bestowing privileges and land upon the new Cistercian monastery.

It was built of "white stone, carefully carved," a true reflection of the ascetic and austere spirit of its architectural ideals: simplicity, sobriety, and proportion . Only the church remains standing from the 13th century; a fire and a flood destroyed the older buildings.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the growth of the complex continued unabated . The stables, refectory, part of the guesthouse, the secret rooms, and the abbot's house were built. The monastic buildings were further expanded throughout the 18th and 19th centuries , with the complete construction of the cloister, a new chapter house, and the installation of three Baroque altars—a constant evolution and improvement of the facilities.

Today it is above all a monument open to admiration . Few visitors fail to find in this place the pleasure of the gaze or the spiritual calm of this ancient island amidst the contemporary.