Guzmán Tower
Caleruega
About
The construction of the Convent of the Dominican Fathers began in 1952, taking care that the type of construction did not clash with the structure and austerity of the Royal Monastery. With the exception of the corner crowns with spire towers, it looks like one and the same.
The building was built around the tower, the latter remaining in the convent’s courtyard. Another remnant of the former ancestral home of the Saint’s family is the wine cellar of Blessed Juana de Aza, mother of Saint Dominic. The cellar is a vaulted rectangular space where, according to documents, Doña Juana performed the miracle of the multiplication of the vat of wine to distribute it to the most needy. For this reason she was canonised. An alabaster relief by Andrés M. Abelenda commemorates the event.
The convent complex has a chapel, presided over by an artistic Gothic crucifix, whose cross and crosspieces are Romanesque. In the same chapel there is a carving of the Virgin dating from the 16th century and another Baroque polychrome carving of Saint Dominic. The ceiling is decorated with stained glass windows depicting the nine ways of praying of Saint Dominic, made by Father Iturgaiz.
The convent also houses a Dominican museum with pieces of varying value related to the Order. Another of the rooms houses several sculptures by Father Alfonso Salas, which are well worth seeing.
It is also, at present, a House of Spirituality.
The Torreón de los Guzmán is a four-storey rectangular tower, 17 metres high and implacably reinforced with two-metre thick walls.
It dates from the 10th century, like other fortresses on the banks of the River Duero, which together formed a line of vigilance and defence at the height of the Reconquest.
The first two floors are pre-Romanesque in style, with a Mozarabic double-arched window on the second floor. The third floor has more modern windows with semicircular arches, in a more purely Romanesque style. Between this and the next floor there are stone corbels or projections. The top floor is a crenellated courtyard with great views of the Peñas de Cervera and a large part of the Ribera del Duero.
Details
Similar Listing
Información de contacto
Torreón de los Guzmanes, 09451 Caleruega, Burgos, España