# Monastery of Santa María de San Salvador de Cañas

What to do en San Millán de la Cogolla · San Millán de la Cogolla

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/things-to-do/canas-monastery · Revisado: 2026-11-12

- Desde: 5 € per person
- Duración: 45 min
- Temporada: All year; check the hours
- Para quién: Everyone

Cistercian nuns' abbey with a Gothic apse of large windows, about 10 km away · 45 min · €5

Cañas is a small village about 10 km from San Millán, on the way to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and the birthplace of Santo Domingo de Silos. Its monastery of Santa María de San Salvador, also called the Monastery of the Light, has been home to Cistercian nuns since 1170 and was declared a National Monument in 1943. What impresses most is the light: a Gothic apse with large windows on two levels that floods the church with brightness. It is a short visit, of about 45 minutes, that fits well into the same day as Suso and Yuso.
History
The monastery began with a donation from Count Lope Díaz de Haro and his wife, Aldonza Ruiz de Castro. In 1169 they gave the Cistercian order an abbey of nuns near Santo Domingo and, the following year, moved them to their lands at Cañas. When the count died, his widow entered the monastery with several of her daughters. One of them, Urraca, was the fourth abbess from 1225 and, after her death, was proclaimed blessed. The building works fall into three phases: Romanesque remains in the lower part of the apses, the great Gothic body and additions after the 16th century. Between 1943 and 1975 it was thoroughly restored.
What you see
You enter through the cloister, from the 17th and 18th centuries, simple and neoclassical, which preserves the old doorways of the church, the chapter house and the storeroom.
The chapter house is the most striking: very tall, with two aisles held up by a single central column from which the vault arches spring, and two pointed windows at the far end. In the centre is the tomb of Abbess Urraca, sculpted by Ruy Martínez de Bureba in 1272, a masterpiece of Gothic funerary sculpture: the recumbent figure of the blessed woman, the funeral procession on the sides and six corbels in the shape of a wolf, the emblem of the Haro family.
The church, in Cistercian Gothic, has its apse and transept from the 13th century and its nave from the 16th. The Renaissance high altarpiece, from the 16th century, was moved in 1975 to the foot of the church to leave the apse windows in view. The visit ends with the museum, in the old storeroom, with a 14th-century Gothic Christ, a Hispano-Muslim casket from the 11th and 12th centuries and several carvings and altarpieces, and a room of relics.
Prices, hours and getting there
It is now run by the parish of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Entry costs €5, with a QR-code audio guide, or €7 with a guide, and is bought at the ticket office on the day. The hours have changed several times since it reopened in 2023; in 2024 they were published as Tuesday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:30 and Sundays 10:30 to 15:00, closed on Mondays. Before you go, call +34 941 379 083.
You can drive there in about fifteen minutes from San Millán. It combines well with the monasteries of Suso and Yuso, with Santa María la Real de Nájera or with Santo Domingo de la Calzada, all in the same area. With children it is a quiet, short visit.

## Cómo llegar y contacto

- Coordenadas: 42.394, -2.8465

## Cerca de aquí

- [Visit and tasting at Bodegas Martínez Alesanco, in Badarán](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/things-to-do/martinez-alesanco-winery-tasting), a 4.1 km
- [Berceo, the village of the first poet in Castilian](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/things-to-do/berceo), a 6.2 km
- [Camping Berceo](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/where-to-stay/berceo-campsite), a 6.3 km
- [Camping Berceo bar-restaurant](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/where-to-eat/berceo-campsite-bar-restaurant), a 6.3 km
- [Hostería San Millán](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/where-to-stay/hosteria-san-millan), a 7.7 km
- [In Vino Veritas Restaurant (Hostería San Millán)](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/where-to-eat/in-vino-veritas-restaurant), a 7.7 km
- [Yuso Monastery and the AutorIA exhibition](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/things-to-do/yuso-monastery), a 7.7 km
- [Suso Monastery, open during restoration](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla/things-to-do/suso-monastery), a 8.4 km

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How much does it cost to visit the Cañas monastery?
€5 for the self-guided visit and €7 for the guided one, at the ticket office on the day.

### Do nuns still live there?
Yes: it is a community of Cistercian nuns, in the part of the monastery built from the 18th century onwards.

Destino: [San Millán de la Cogolla](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/la-rioja/san-millan-de-la-cogolla.md)