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Australia Canada China Germany France India Japan Spain United Kingdom United States Italy Brazil
  1. Bing Gallery
  2. United Kingdom
  3. 2020
  4. December 01
  5. Nuestra Señora de la Hoz monastery in the Duratón River gorge, Castile and León, Spain
arrow_back_ios arrow_forward_ios Nuestra Señora de la Hoz monastery in the Duratón River gorge, Castile and León, Spain

December 01, 2020

Nuestra Señora de la Hoz monastery in the Duratón River gorge, Castile and León, Spain

© Arco Images GmbH/Alam

A gorge-ous spot for a monastery

Lace up your walking shoes and let’s head into the Hoces del Rio Duratón, in the Spanish region of Castile and León. This imposing 17-mile-long limestone gorge boasts towering vertical walls that can reach up to 328ft (100 metres) high. The Duratón river which carved it meanders through a landscape rich in history and archaeological treasures.

Inside the cliffs are several caves with ancient paintings dating back to the Bronze Age, and a dark Visigothic grotto which is thought to be the first Christian temple in the region. Above one of the bends in the canyon sits a 12th century Romanesque church, just a few miles away from the ruins of the long-abandoned and isolated Franciscan monastery you see in our homepage image.

While you don’t need to be a hermit to enjoy this spectacular landscape, you may well spend hours walking alone with only the slightly unnerving company of huge griffon vultures circling above your head. It’s nothing personal - this gorge is home to one of the largest griffon vulture colonies in Europe, with more than 600 registered pairs nesting here.

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