Romanesque Cloister, Apothecary and Museum of Silos Monastery

The cloister of the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos has two storeys of Romanesque arches and capitals, and on its corners reliefs that are among the most studied in Europe. It was the centre of the monks' life: around it were the church, to the north; the chapter house and scriptorium, to the east; the kitchen and refectory, to the south, with the dormitory above, and the guesthouse, to the west. The visit also includes the apothecary and the museum.

The cloister

The lower storey was built in two phases: the east and north galleries are from the second half of the 11th century, and the west and south ones from the 12th. The upper storey is from the late 12th century. It is almost rectangular, with 16 arches in the north and south galleries and 14 in the east and west. The abbey numbers 46 capitals: 1 to 36 are from the first phase and 37 to 46 from the second.

On the corners, the first master carved six large reliefs. Starting from the north-east angle: the Ascension, Pentecost, the Burial and the Resurrection, the Descent from the Cross, the disciples at Emmaus and the doubting of Saint Thomas. Later, in the late 12th century, the Annunciation and the Tree of Jesse were added. In the courtyard grows the cypress, planted in 1882, which is now over 25 metres tall; at the main entrance there is also a monumental sequoia.

The apothecary and the museum

The apothecary dates from 1705. In the Middle Ages the monks ran a hospital and a leper house, and that is where their botanical knowledge came from. About 400 books survive, most from the 17th to 19th centuries, among them a Dioscorides of 1525 with drawings of plants and animals, and some 400 ceramic jars made for this apothecary with the monastery's coat of arms, as well as shelves, stills and ovens. In 1927 Juan de Aguirre y Achútegui bought it and donated it to the abbey just before it was sold abroad; the present room is not its original place.

The museum occupies a medieval room and gathers what was saved from the 19th-century confiscations (desamortización). Highlights are the chalice of Santo Domingo, of gilded silver with filigree and horseshoe arches, from the 11th century; a Romanesque tympanum of around 1200 found in 1964 in the foundations of the present church, with the Nativity, the Presentation and the Adoration of the Magi; an enamelled 12th-century crozier and a processional monstrance of 1526.

Hours and tickets

Monday to Saturday it opens from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 16:30 to 18:00; Sundays and public holidays, from 12:00 to 13:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00. On Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday it opens morning and afternoon. It closes on 1 January, 25 December and for some of the community's celebrations. General admission, €4; groups and students, €3; free for under-12s, the unemployed, pilgrims and people with disabilities, and for everyone on Wednesday afternoons. Tickets are bought at the counter, with no reservation; groups of more than 20 should let them know. There are explanations by QR codes. Allow an hour.

When you leave, stay for Vespers in Gregorian chant at 19:00 or go first to the La Yecla gorge.