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San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries

Spain
Date of Inscription: 1997
Criteria: (ii)(iv)(vi)
Property : 19.01 ha
Buffer zone: 266.24 ha
San Millán de la Cogolla, Province and Autonomous Community of La Rioja
N42 19 33.096 W2 51 53.856
Ref: 805

Brief Description

The monastic community founded by St Millán in the mid-6th century became a place of pilgrimage. A fine Romanesque church built in honour of the holy man still stands at the site of Suso. It was here that the first literature was produced in Castilian, from which one of the most widely spoken languages in the world today is derived. In the early 16th century the community was housed in the fine new monastery of Yuso, below the older complex; it is still a thriving community today.

Justification for Inscription

The Committee decided to inscribe this property on the basis of criteria (ii), (iv) and (vi), considering that the Monasteries of Suso and Yuso at San Millán de la Cogolla are exceptional testimony to the introduction and continuous survival of Christian monasticism, from the 6th century to the present day. The property is also of outstanding associative significance as the birthplace of the modern written and spoken Spanish language.

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