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Likewise, the monastery housed many tombs of noblemen. When
the Cluniac Order took possession of it in 1076, the abbey
became a focal point of the Cluniac reform. The expropiation
of 1835 caused the dissolution of the Benedictine community
that governed the temple at that time. Since then, the construction
has served as a seminary and an educational centre. Today
it houses a hotel. The abbey was declared an Artistic and
Historic National Monument on 3rd June, 1931.
It was during the restoration the temple
underwent in the 16C that the present Gothic-Renaissance
cloister was built. Nevertheless, the original buildings
of the abbey can still be seen.
The main front, with a basket-handle arch
and archivolts, was created in the late Gothic style. It
is ornamented with Franciscan cords. The interior is covered
with a wood frame; and the high altar with a Gothic groin
vault. In the 17 C both structures were covered with plaster
in the manneristic style. The present temple is Baroque,
and it contains the sepulchres of the infamous Infants of
Carrión, protagonists of the black legend in the
Cantar de Mío Cid.
In 1993 took place the discovery of a Romanesque
portal on the west wall of the original church. It was in
an excellent state of preservation. It consists of two superimposed
semicircular archs, flanked by 2 C Roman marble columns.
Its four capitals are decorated with religious scenes and
inscriptions, carved on three sides over plain or fluted
muticoloured Italian shafts and Romanesque bases. On the
door can be read the consecration inscription of the temple.
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