Puntos de Interés
Municipality
Santíbañez de Ecla
Santibáñez de Ecla is a municipality, a hamlet, and also a town in the province of Palencia. It is located inside the Las Loras Geopark, an area in the UNESCO geoparks network.
The municipality is made up of the districts of San Andrés de Arroyo, with its Cistercian monastery, and Villaescusa de Ecla, with the Church of St. Helena.
Its name comes from several Latin words. On one hand, sancti and on the other, loannis which refers to St. John. Added to this is Ecla, which comes from decullatum clearly alluding to the beheading of St. John. In fact, the church dedicated to this saint is one of the jewels of this small town located in a valley surrounded by mountains. The building dates back to the 14th century and conceals a little secret: its tower has a passageway to cross to the other side. It also has a Solomonic altarpiece with images of St. Roque and James the Pilgrim, however, the sculpture that catches people's eye is the one representing St. Sebastian, which was made in the 16th century and is located in the sacristy.
The Castilian Lebaniego Route and the Romanesque Nature Path of Palencia pass through the village and join up with the beginning of one of the other two routes that complement the Romanesque Nature Path of Palencia called the Santibáñez de Ecla - Payo de Ojeda Route.