Padilla de Abajo combines late Romanesque sacred architecture with a history dating back to Roman roads. The Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Torreón, the Iglesia de los Santos Juanes, and two Roman milestones offer different historical points of interest. The Vía Aquitania also passes through Padilla de Abajo. The town can therefore be explored through its architectural history, archaeological traces, and historic routes.
Architectural History from the Romanesque to the Baroque
The Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Torreón lies 500 meters northwest of Padilla de Abajo, on the road to Padilla de Arriba. The late Romanesque building was largely constructed in the 13th century and altered later. A Latin inscription provides the basis for dating it to 1298. The building consists of a single-nave hall and a semicircular apse: the main space is laid out as a single nave, while the apse completes the building with a rounded section.
The Iglesia de los SS Juanes is listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC). Its monumental Baroque high altar is dated to around 1700. Four Solomonic columns structure the altar, which also features sculptures and reliefs of the saints to whom the church is dedicated. The hermitage and the altar thus offer insight into different architectural and artistic forms: late Romanesque architecture on the one hand, Baroque design on the other.
Milestones and the Vía Aquitania
The two Roman milestones of Padilla de Abajo were discovered in the town in 1968. Milestones were small columns along Roman roads that marked distances in Roman miles. One Roman mile is equivalent to 1,480 meters. This unit of measurement helps explain the stones’ function as historical distance markers. The two milestones may be connected with the Roman road from Astorga to Bordeaux, also known as the Vía Aquitania.
The Vía Aquitania follows the Roman road of the same name, which connected Italy and France. Its continuation in Spain was the Vía XXXIV Ab Astúrica Burgalam, between Bordeaux and Astorga. It is listed as number 34 in the Itinerario Antoniano and is also known as De Hispania in Aequitania. The Vía Aquitania route runs from Grijalba through Padilla de Abajo and Melgar de Fernamental, and onward to Osorno. In 2025, the Castilian section was designated a new historic route by the Comisión Jacobea and the Junta de Castilla y León.
River Plains and Routes
Padilla de Abajo is in the Odra-Pisuerga comarca in the western part of Burgos province, on broad river plains between the Odra and Pisuerga. Routes along both rivers start from Padilla de Abajo. Mountain-biking routes head toward Burgos and Citores del Páramo. This gives you different directions to consider when planning a trip: the river courses on the one hand, and the two destinations served by the mountain-biking routes on the other. Before setting out on a specific trip, check the current route and conditions.
Those looking for accommodation for their stay can view Padilla de Abajo as a destination with a clear cultural and historical focus: sacred buildings, Roman roads, and the river plains all offer themes to consider when planning a trip. Whether the town suits your plans depends on how you want to include architectural history, landscape, and a route in your stay.
Discover more destinations: Castrojeriz, Quintana Del Puente, Zuzones, Sedano, Pedrosa De Duero, Villafría, La Orden, Canicosa De La Sierra.
For the broader travel overview: Burgos.
