A scarce kilometer from Potes , located at the end of the Picos de Europa, heading to the westernmost end of the province, there is a road that goes up to the Santo Toribio de Liébana monastery, which was started to build in the 7th century by Santo Toribio, Bishop of Palencia and a native of these mountains, and in which he later lived as a monk.
Before him we met another Saint of the same name, also a native of the place and who, in the 5th century, arrived from the Holy Land with some of the holy relics that are kept in the place and that he tried to hide from the hordes of Theodoric, when this invaded Galicia. This place was the cradle of one of the greatest Spanish bibliographic treasures .
Around the year 786 Blessed, a monk of the Monastery of San Martín, origin of the current one of Santo Toribio, wrote his explanatio in Apocalypse, whose great repercussion gave rise to the precious codices, called “Beatos” richly miniatures that can be found in places like the Girona Cathedral or the National Library. In front of the door of Forgiveness, in Romanesque style, is the reliquary that contains the Lignum Crucis, which they say is the largest preserved piece of the Holy Cross.
From the Monastery you can see the majestic peaks of the Picos de Europa, almost always snowed. Do not forget that in any of the surrounding towns or in Potes itself, you can enjoy very comfortable accommodations and a rich gastronomy .