Santiago de Peñalba

The church of Santiago de Peñalba is located in the town of Peñalba de Santiago, belonging to the municipality of Ponferrada, in the region of El Bierzo. It is one of the most representative architectural gems of pre-Romanesque Mozarabic art. Built at the beginning of the 10th century on the initiative of Genadio of Astorga, it was inaugurated in the year 937 by his disciple Abbot Solomon. The church is the only building that remains of a monastic complex that has now disappeared.

This mountainous area, full of hermit monasteries and churches since the 7th century, deserved in its time the name of "Tebaida berciana". Its location in the center of the Montes Aquilanos, the most rugged area of the Montes de León, facilitated the isolation sought by the ascetic saints of the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries, such as San Fructuoso and San Genadio. The figure of San Genadio is relevant, insofar as he is considered the promoter of the spiritual and eremitical renaissance of El Bierzo area.