Santa María De Mave combines monastic heritage with a clearly defined location on the Río Pisuerga. The church of the former Benedictine monastery is a prominent cultural landmark; there are also two routes with different planning details. On the Camino del Besaya – Calzada romana, one stage leads into the village and another from there to Herrera del Pisuerga. The Calzada de los Blendios is associated with a river crossing and views of rock formations. The church architecture, landscape, and stages thus represent different aspects of the destination.

Monastery Church and History

The church of the former Benedictine monastery has a basilica plan with three naves and three semicircular apses. Remains of wall paintings, recovered during the most recent restoration, have also been preserved in the apse. The monastery has been classified as a historic-artistic monument since 1931; the church is part of the route’s artistic heritage.

The term “nave” refers to a longitudinal section of a church interior; apses are semicircular architectural structures. This makes it possible to distinguish the three naves as divisions of the floor plan and the three apses as separate elements. The remains of the wall paintings add a detail of the preserved interior decoration to this architectural description.

The other monastery buildings now serve as a rural guesthouse. If you are considering staying here overnight, check availability before your trip.

Location and Routes

Santa María De Mave lies close to the left bank of the Río Pisuerga, on a fertile terrace at an elevation of 870 meters above sea level. These features serve different purposes for orientation: the riverbank locates the village in relation to the river, while the terrace and elevation put the landscape into context. When planning your route, it is worth distinguishing the village’s location from the scale of the stages.

One stage of the Camino del Besaya – Calzada romana is 30,380 km long and runs from Aguilar de Campoo to Santa María De Mave. Another stage runs from Santa María De Mave to Herrera del Pisuerga. In this sequence of routes, the village is therefore named both as a destination and as a starting point. On the stage, Santa María De Mave is reached after Mave and, a little more than half a kilometer later, through the broad floodplain of the Río Pisuerga. The stage length and the passage through the floodplain refer to different scales: 30,380 km is the distance from Aguilar de Campoo to Santa María De Mave; a little more than half a kilometer is the section after Mave.

The Calzada de los Blendios offers a different perspective on the landscape. The route crosses the Río Pisuerga at the entrance to the Cañón de la Horadada and offers views of the rock formations of Las Tuerces. The Camino del Besaya focuses on the stage route and the passage through the floodplain; the Calzada de los Blendios is defined by the crossing, the entrance to the canyon, and views of the rocks. If you are planning your trip around culture or landscape, these differences can help you choose a focus.

Discover more destinations: Mave, Canduela

Return to the main travel overview: Aguilar De Campoo.