Santa María la Real Aguilar de Campoo, the Monastery.
Santa María la Real Aguilar de Campoo. Restored thanks to Jose María Perez Gonzalez (Peridis)
Monastery of Santa María La Real de Aguilar de Campoo. Its origin is very ancient, founded in the 9th century. In the 12th century, it was inhabited by Premonstratensian monks until 1835 when it was abandoned and looted. In 1978, the Association of Friends of the Monastery of Aguilar took charge of restoring it and bringing it back to life. Today, its premises house an institute and the headquarters of the Center for Romanesque Studies. The 13th-century church consists of three naves and a head with three apses. The cloister has been completely restored. The first floor is in Romanesque style with pointed arches that host three small supports, on double columns with capitals featuring a variety of themes. Some of its capitals are preserved in the National Archaeological Museum. Finally, its Chapter House is a square space covered with ribbed vaults.
THE REBIRTH OF THE FALLEN CONVENT
Diderot vehemently stated: "The ideas that ruins awaken in me are great. Everything is destroyed, everything perishes, everything passes. Only the world remains. Only time endures. The world is old and I walk between two eternities. What is my existence compared to these crumbling stones?" What fascination arises before our eyes at the sight of a grand ruin, especially if it is fueled by childhood effervescence. A living toy and real protagonist that animated the readings of adventurous novel episodes. Children, like José María Pérez Peridis and other residents of Aguilar, who grew up playing and fantasizing among its walls. They fulfilled their dream and over the years rescued the monastery for the town.
Thus, amidst the grandeur that was glimpsed and the mystery of the hidden, the monastery of Santa María la Real was offered to the eyes of the residents of the town of Aguilar de Campoo in the mid-20th century. As the image shows, worn by time, but to the amazement of romantics and their fascination with the rubble of our past. A new era rescued a vision far from nostalgia and ambitious to give the monument a new and fruitful life. A hallmark of the youth of a town.
Monastery of Santa María La Real de Aguilar de Campoo. Its origin is very ancient, founded in the 9th century. In the 12th century, it was inhabited by Premonstratensian monks until 1835 when it was abandoned and looted. In 1978, the Association of Friends of the Monastery of Aguilar took charge of restoring it and bringing it back to life. Today, its premises house an institute and the headquarters of the Center for Romanesque Studies. The 13th-century church consists of three naves and a head with three apses. The cloister has been completely restored. The first floor is in Romanesque style with pointed arches that host three small supports, on double columns with capitals featuring a variety of themes. Some of its capitals are preserved in the National Archaeological Museum. Finally, its Chapter House is a square space covered with ribbed vaults.
THE REBIRTH OF THE FALLEN CONVENT
Diderot vehemently stated: "The ideas that ruins awaken in me are great. Everything is destroyed, everything perishes, everything passes. Only the world remains. Only time endures. The world is old and I walk between two eternities. What is my existence compared to these crumbling stones?" What fascination arises before our eyes at the sight of a grand ruin, especially if it is fueled by childhood effervescence. A living toy and real protagonist that animated the readings of adventurous novel episodes. Children, like José María Pérez Peridis and other residents of Aguilar, who grew up playing and fantasizing among its walls. They fulfilled their dream and over the years rescued the monastery for the town.
Thus, amidst the grandeur that was glimpsed and the mystery of the hidden, the monastery of Santa María la Real was offered to the eyes of the residents of the town of Aguilar de Campoo in the mid-20th century. As the image shows, worn by time, but to the amazement of romantics and their fascination with the rubble of our past. A new era rescued a vision far from nostalgia and ambitious to give the monument a new and fruitful life. A hallmark of the youth of a town.
