Puntos de Interés
Municipality
Colmenares de Ojeda
Colmenares de Ojeda is located near the source of the Burejo River. As a district of the municipality of Dehesa de Montejo in Palencia, it is located in the region of Montaña Palentina, although it is actually located on the border between this region and that of La Ojeda. As a place of transition between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Castilian plateau, the landscape is dotted with geographical features that the pre-Roman Cantabrian peoples knew how to take advantage of to defend their villages, as can be seen in the archaeological site of El Otero, on one of the hills near the town.
It was in the Middle Ages when Colmenares de Ojeda experienced its heyday, probably due to the strategic position that the area held as a Christian outpost during the Reconquest. The strong tower or simply El Castillo (The Castle), whose only remains are the ruins next to the Burejo River, and the Romanesque St. Fructuosus Martyr's Church, bear witness to that period of religious wars. The importance of the nobility and the feudal system in this area is clearly demonstrated by three houses with coats of arms from the 17th century, including the House of the Lions with an impressive coat of arms on its facade, proof that Colmenares de Ojeda was important in the past. Inside the St. Fructuosus parish church is an authentic Romanesque masterpiece in the form of a 12th century baptismal font, one of the most spectacular and best preserved in the province, exhibited, of course, during the acclaimed The Ages of Man Exhibition in the cathedral of Palencia in 1999.
As the 20th century came along, there was an exodus from the countryside to the cities and the town's population gradually dwindled until there was no longer a town hall. Nevertheless, the few remaining residents continue to carry the image of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in a procession on the first Sunday of October.