Romanesque Church of Santa María de Mave

In Santa María de Mave, about 10 km south of Aguilar and beside the Pisuerga, the Romanesque church of a former monastery still stands. It is one of the classic stops on the northern Romanesque of Palencia: a large church of reddish stone, with a high dome over the crossing.

A little history

The monastery has its origins in the second half of the 9th century, when King Alfonso III created an abbey here and gave it several small monasteries from the surrounding area. In 1033 Mave and its properties came under the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador de Oña, in Burgos. Nothing remains of the pre-Romanesque building; the cloister and outbuildings were entirely rebuilt in the 18th century and are now a hospitality complex. The Romanesque church, however, has been preserved intact.

What you see

The church is a large building of red ashlar, with three aisles, a triple apse, a bell gable at the west end and a raised dome over the crossing. On the outside it is worth walking around to see the apse and bell gable; inside, the space of the three aisles under the crossing dome. The visit lasts about half an hour.

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. It does not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. Entry costs €2.

The Turismo de Castilla y León listing specifies that this is the autumn timetable, from 16 September to 8 December, and that the church closes from 9 December to 28 January. In those weeks a visit can be arranged at least 48 hours in advance on 616 520 509, the phone of the Fundación Nártex, which manages the openings of the northern Romanesque. The phone number on the listing is 979 123 611. As in the other churches in the area, hours of worship are respected.

Getting there and what to combine

You reach it by car in about fifteen minutes from Aguilar, heading south along the Pisuerga valley. The church is in the village itself.

Mave and the rock-cut hermitage of Olleros have the same hours and are a few kilometres apart: together they make the best Romanesque morning around Aguilar. Very close, too, is the rock landscape of Las Tuerces; to understand it before going, stop at the KARST centre, in Aguilar. In the town you can round off the day with the monastery of Santa María la Real, with its models of the region's Romanesque, and with the castle and old quarter of Aguilar.

If you want to plan the route, the Aguilar tourist office has the hours of all the churches and the page on Romanesque visits summarises which open at fixed hours and which by appointment.