So, this is the final post for this trip. Sorry for so many "parts" but there was so much to see and so much variety. I wanted to dedicate a single entry to these two monasteries because of their importance in the linguistic history of Spain. Here is the story...
Suso was a visigothic monastery built around the hermitage belonging to Aemilianus (Millán) o Emiliano who died in 574. Millán was the son of a local shepherd living in Vergegium (known today as Berceo). Originally the monastery was composed of a series of caves in the mountainside that were excavated in the late 6th and early 7th Centuries. Over the years additions / amplifications were added reflecting Mozarabic and Romanesque architectural styles. It was on this site that an unidentified monk wrote the "Glosas Emilianenses" that constitute the first translation of a Latin text into "Romance" (early Castillian) and into Basque ("Euskera"). It was also in this spot where the poet Gonçalo de Berceo lived and wrote. He is considered to be the first poet to employ "Romance" as the voice for his poetry.
Suso is also the resting place of the "Siete Infantes de Lara" (The Seven Princes of Lara") and three queens from the Kingdom of Navarra (Toda, Ximena, and Elvira) as well as that of don Tello González.
Below are some interior shots.
Above is the niche (cave) where the saint was buried.
Above are the Mozarabic arches that constitute part of the nave of the chapel.
Over the years many of the monks were buried in the monasteries caves. Here you can see some of the tombs.
These are the Romanesque arches from a later phase of the monasteries construction.
The monastery is located on a hillside above the Monastery of Yuso (construction began in 1053). It is nestled among pine trees and overlooks the beautiful valleys in and around the small town of Berceo.
And sits a short distance from the Monastery of Yuso.
Instead of taking the bus to return to the valley we decided to walk along the path leading from Suso to Yuso. I could not help but imagine the introduction to Gonçalo de Berceo's "Milagros de Nuestra Señora" where he talks passionately of the beauties of the natural world around him and his desire to escape the world and enter into a more Edenic existence.
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