Rock-Cut Hermitage of Santos Justo y Pastor, in Olleros de Pisuerga

In Olleros de Pisuerga, 6 km south of Aguilar, the church of Santos Justo y Pastor is carved inside a crag: aisles, arches and altar are all rock, and from outside only a small modern porch and the bell gable above the stone peek out. It is the village parish church and one of the most remarkable artificial caves in the region, in a setting with many caves inhabited since prehistoric times.

What you see inside

On entering, the church opens into two aisles hewn from the rock, covered with barrel vaults, each ending in its own apse, with a quarter-sphere vault, as in Romanesque churches built of stone. The sacristy is considered the oldest part of the complex. There is also a funerary chapel with an anthropomorphic grave, like other hewn tombs found in the surroundings. The dominant style is Romanesque and the church is medieval, although there is no precise date for its origin. In 2009 the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) published the start of the procedure to declare it a Site of Cultural Interest (Bien de Interés Cultural), in the monument category.

The visit takes half an hour. Spend a while on the exterior too: from outside you understand how the church is set into the crag, because little more than the porch and the bell gable can be seen.

Opening hours and entry

According to the resource sheet from the Junta's tourist office in Palencia, updated in early November 2026, it opens on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:30. On Mondays and Tuesdays it is closed. Entry costs €2. Phone: 616 520 509, of the Fundación Nártex, which manages the openings of the northern Romanesque.

The Turismo de Castilla y León listing says that this timetable is the autumn one, from 16 September to 8 December, and that the church closes from 9 December to 28 February. If you go in winter, call first: out-of-hours visits can also be arranged on that number. At the church you can buy the pass accreditation for the northern Romanesque, at €2.

Getting there and what to combine

You reach it by car in ten minutes from Aguilar. The church is in the village of Olleros itself.

It is the natural partner of Santa María de Mave, a few kilometres away and with the same hours, and the two fit into a Friday or Saturday morning together with the KARST centre, which explains the rock landscape of Las Tuerces, very close. If you are staying in the area, the Hotel Valentín and the Posada Santa María la Real are in Aguilar. For the region's other churches, see the page on Romanesque visits.