San Juan de Ortega

What is there in San Juan de Ortega

San Juan de Ortega is a minor local entity in the municipality of Barrios de Colina, in Burgos Province, on the Camino Frances.

After the long crossing of the Montes de Oca, this clearing in the forest with barely twenty residents is almost a monastery with a hamlet around it. It was founded in the 12th century by Juan de Ortega, a disciple of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, who devoted his life to building bridges, roads and hospitals for pilgrims and is buried in the church. That church holds a phenomenon that draws visitors every year: at the spring and autumn equinoxes, around five in the afternoon solar time, a ray of light travels across the Romanesque capital of the Annunciation, the so-called miracle of light. For decades the local priest welcomed walkers with a garlic soup that became legendary. A good stage end for anyone seeking silence before Burgos.

What to See in San Juan de Ortega?

The Monastery of San Juan de Ortega

The Monastery of San Juan de Ortega, founded in the 12th century, brings together several parts:

Church of Saint Nicholas of Bari: Romanesque, with the famous Annunciation capital.
Chapel of the saint: where the remains of Saint John of Ortega are kept.
Hieronymite cloister: added in the 15th century, when the monastery passed to this order.
Pilgrims’ hostel: hospitality still goes on within the complex itself.

The complex has been a Site of Cultural Interest since 1931.

The saint and the founding

Juan de Velázquez, the future Saint John of Ortega, was born in Quintanaortuño around 1080. A disciple of Saint Dominic of the Causeway, he followed his example by building roads, bridges and hospitals for pilgrims. According to tradition, on his way back from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem he survived a shipwreck and vowed to build a chapel to Saint Nicholas of Bari: the monastery grew out of that vow.

The Miracle of Light

Twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes, a ray of sunlight enters through a window of the church and gradually lights up the scenes of the capital, from the Annunciation to the Nativity. The «miracle of light» lasts about eight minutes and shows how much medieval builders knew about astronomy and orientation.

The 2 June Pilgrimage

Every 2 June the villages of the district climb to the monastery with their banners and crosses on a pilgrimage in honour of Saint John of Ortega, a tradition kept for centuries.