Church of the Monastery of Santa María de Mave

Converted today into an agrotourism centre, the old Benedictine Monastery of Santa María de Mave still preserves its magnificent Romanesque church, which even today hosts Catholic weddings.

The church is surprising firstly because of the dark reddish and greyish sandstone that was used to build it. The building has a floor plan in the shape of a Latin cross, three naves with three sections, a transept of the same width and a triple semicircular apse, which is its most interesting element. Another peculiar feature is its austere decoration, which is almost exclusively limited to the western door. This is a pointed arch with four archivolts decorated with a serrated design and batons, resting on slender columns and capitals with sculpted plant motifs. The interior conserves pointed barrel-vaulted ceilings, with rib arches and side arches. The dome over the crossing, which has a square floor plan, rises up over a semi-spherical cupola on squinches.