‘Ruined’ monastery in Burgos that monks hope to save

Located in the northern part of the province of Burgos, in the city of Miranda de Ebro, the Monastery of Santa Maria de Herrera dates back to the 12th century. At that time, a Benedictine monk named Guillermo El from Villafranca Montes de Oca appeared. … The cordial inspired the monks living there at the time to adopt Cistercian rules. Since then, it has been occupied by various orders until Mendizábal was confiscated. It then fell into disrepair and was abandoned until 1923, at the beginning of the last century, when the hermits of Monte Corona acquired the monastery. It became the Abbey of Burgos, the first monastery in Spain to be settled by a community of this order.

Since then, they have lived there in prayer and silence, including clearing the land and managing the monastery. Each monk lives alone in a cell or hermitage without many comforts. So, for example, we continue to use wood stoves to heat our cells.

The order is now concerned about the condition of the site, particularly the highly “deteriorated” roofs of the majority of the site, including the 12 hermitages and cells where each monk lives. For this reason, they have launched a crowdfunding campaign through the Declausula Foundation website in order to raise funds to cover the costs of the necessary repairs to the monastery. This is also encouraged by the Friends of Villamoron, who are also working on the restoration of what is known as the “Cathedral of the Páramo,” and remember the friars who helped them during the first expedition with the aid of Hispania Nostra.