Official Portal of Tourism. Junta de Castilla y Leon

The Monastery of Santa María de Rioseco, founded in the 13th century, is located in the Manzanedo Valley, next to the Ebro River. It was inhabited for centuries by "white monks" of the Cistercian Order, the community was stratified, monks living together " orators" or literati and laymen or "converts" who engaged in farm work. In its best moments, Rioseco must have had a community of 100 people, including monks, converts, novices and servants. The monks created an exemplary agricultural exploitation, imposing in the Manzanedo Valley the crops of wheat, vineyards, fruit trees and flax, bequeathing their livestock with 2,000 sheep.

The decline of Rioseco began in the 19th century: the monks were forced to exclaustrate on several occasions and in 1835 the disentailment law of Mendizábal, which allowed the sale of monastic assets, put an end to the monastery. After the confiscation, laziness, oblivion and plunder turned the monastery into dangerous ruins, which is why in the fifties the grandchildren of its buyer donated it to the Archbishopric of Burgos, its current owner. Since 2010, different activities have been carried out to recover the monastery with volunteers from the Salvemos Rioseco association.

In the monastery we find three construction periods: Creation period, or Cistercian 13th-14th century, to which the church corresponds. Renaissance stage, in the 16th century: the Chapter House and some other dependency. Baroque stage, XVII-XVIII century: cloister and other dependencies of the Monastery.