The foundation of this monastery dates from the 10th century. At the beginning, however, it was dedicated to Saint John. It was in the 11th century when the relics of San Zoilo arrived from Córdoba. San Zoilo is at present, patron saint of the town. His feast is celebrated in the month of August.
When the remains of the saint arrived in Carrion, the lords of the place were the Banu Gómez family. From their trips to Andalusia, a collection of Islamic fabrics is preserved inside this magnificent building. They were declared Asset of Intangible Cultural Interest in 2012, and they are the most important worldwide within the period to which they belong.
Teresa, the wife of Gómez Díaz, of the Banu Gómez lineage already mentioned, entrusted the monastery of San Zoilo to the order of Cluny in the year 1076. From this moment on, Carrión was a point of reference for Cluniac and the Camino de Santiago.
During the works to adapt the building, in 1993, the Romanesque façade of the original medieval church was found. The state of conservation is magnificent, since it was protected behind a wall from the seventeenth century until the restoration period.
This monument has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and the most spectacular thing from an architectural point of view is, without a doubt, its Gothic-Renaissance cloister, a unique wonder that cannot be missed.
