The Cistercian Monastery of Santa María de Valbuena is a jewel of religious architecture from the 12th century, corresponding to the late Romanesque period.

Nestled on the banks of the Duero River in the district of San Bernardo (belonging to Valbuena de Duero), this temple was a place of meditation and prayer and also a place where wine was made.

It is a Cistercian monastery of Benedictine monks dedicated to Santa María and located on the banks of the Duero River. Its foundation (Vallis bona) is recorded in 1143 by Countess Estefanía Armengol, daughter of the Count of Urgel and granddaughter of Count Ansúrez, the repopulator of Valladolid. In the same year, Alfonso VII signed the privilege of confirmation to the Cistercians, although it was not accepted until 1151 by the Bishop of Palencia. Construction of the monastery began around 1165 and was completed at the beginning of the 13th century.

The stone complex is a perfect example of the Cistercian typology of self-sufficiency and austerity established in the reform of San Bernardo: church, cloister, chapter house, refectory, locutory, work room, kitchen, dormitories and agricultural outbuildings.

• In the parlatorium or monks’ workroom, the ribbed vaults and Egyptian-style capitals are particularly noteworthy. The refectory has a pointed barrel vault.
• The church is low, with three naves and a transept with an octagonal dome. The interior features a 16th-century choir in the rural Plateresque style and mural paintings from the 13th century. High altar of the Valladolid school, with scenes of the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin. Other altars dedicated to saints, two of which feature reliefs by Gregorio Fernández.
• The exterior is of solid architecture with buttresses. It may have been built between the end of the 12th and the early years of the 13th century. It is currently the parish church.
• The cloister is made up of two architectural parts. The first body with low arches, capitals with vegetal themes, which must have been built in the first half of the 13th century, and the upper cloister from the 16th century, with flamboyant decoration, decorated balustrades and 52 medallions. It preserves a skull that holds an ear. Remains of the Plateresque washbasin.
• The figure of Saint Bernard with a book in his hand appears in the porter’s lodge.

After several exclaustrations at the beginning of the 19th century due to the confiscations, it finally passed back into private hands in 1835, in the hands of Baron Carlos de Quessel, who sold it in 1849 to the Madrid Pardo Coello-Panadero family. They sold it in 1950 to the Ministry of Agriculture and in 1964 it was acquired by the Archbishopric of Valladolid. It currently houses the headquarters of the Fundación de las Edades del Hombre, after the restoration and refurbishment of its interior.

The Monastery of Valbuena has been an“Asset of Cultural Interest” with the category of Monument since 2000.