Its history is linked to Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, a famous knight of the XI century. According to the legend, his family stayed at the monastery after his exile. This knight and his wife were buried there until 1808, when their remains were desecrated. It is thought that his stallion “Babieca” was buried here too.
The abbey was refurbished during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century it was looted by the French troops, during the war of independence. It was abandoned for a century due to the ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizabal. In the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the monastery was used as a concentration camp. Since 1941, it has recovered it’s monastic use with the arrival of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, also known as Trappist.
