This Romanesque-protogothic hermitage was part of what was once the Templar Monastery of San Juan de Otero. In full, it is the masterpiece of Templar symbolism and is one of the Castilian architectural manifestations linked to the order of the temple.
It has a magnificent entrance door, decorated corbels and a rose window with ornamentation of esoteric figures. It houses the Templar cross and the Star of Zion; outside, three hundred-year-old elms and the pool at the foot of the river. A natural spectacle!
The Lobos River Canyon has been one of the most protected itineraries that pilgrims used to link with the French way of the Camino de Santiago, and the existing crismón in the apse of the hermitage is the best witness of this passage of pilgrims, since it was the trademark left by the brotherhood of builders known in France as Hijos del Maestro Santiago. Therefore it can be assumed that they are the architects of the construction.
Legend has it that the Apostle Santiago, mounted on his horse, jumped from the top of one of the cliffs of the canyon. The helmets left their marks on the stone, near the path used today and the sword fell to the ground and where it was nailed, it would be the place where the current hermitage of San Bartolomé would be built.
Legend has it that it was one of the five convents that the Order of the Temple had in Castile at the time of its dissolution, in 1312. And that it was not just any building: it was the center of the world for knights, since the distance from the hermitage of San Bartolomé to the capes of Creus (Gerona) to the east, and Finisterre (La Coruña) to the west, is the same.
The Order of the Temple was a famous medieval order dedicated to defending pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, Rome and the Camino de Santiago, as well as fighting against the Muslim "erejía" in the Crusades. He came to achieve great power until he fell into disgrace for challenging the King of France. His esoteric knowledge is well known. Its imprint on sacred places is always accompanied by numerous astronomical and mysterious elements, which has given this order a halo of legend / mysticism that lasts to this day. If we add that the walls of the Canyon are milled by a multitude of caves (many can be explored) and with numerous magnetic anomalies that make the Canyon for lovers of esotericism a source of telluric currents, we will not be surprised by the place chosen by the Temple to build this monument.
The upper archivolt of the portal has a row of corbels in which are the figure of a piper, dancers or a tonsured head
But let's leave it in that finding this wonder in such an enclave is simply magical.
Depending on the time there are more people than during the war, and riding a bike can be a bit uncomfortable (or you are for the rest). But the hermitage and the whole environment in general are worth it. It is a wonder