San Juan de Ortega is named after Juan Velázquez, a disciple and collaborator of Santo Domingo de la Calzada who dedicated his life to helping pilgrims. In the early 12th century, he established a chapel, monastery and pilgrim hospital here in the Montes de Oca, where pilgrims were vulnerable to attacks by bandits. The small settlement that exists today developed around the monastery. The name Ortega is thought to derive from the Latin urtica ("nettle"), referring to the vegetation that grew in the area.
Qué ver en San Juan de Ortega
Monasterio de San Juan de Ortega
The monastery church was begun around 1152 during the lifetime of San Juan de Ortega and was later enlarged in the 15th century. A richly decorated Gothic mausoleum was built for the saint's remains, but was never used for them; his remains are instead kept in a plain stone sarcophagus in the Capilla de San Nicolás.
Around the spring and autumn equinoxes, late-afternoon sunlight enters the church and moves across a Romanesque capital depicting scenes from the Annunciation and Nativity. The phenomenon is known as the Milagro de la Luz ("Miracle of Light").
Dónde alojarse en San Juan de Ortega
La Cuadra de Luisito
Albergue El Descanso de San Juan
Albergue del Monasterio de San Juan de Ortega
