Page 44 - traveling73 eng

LA RIOJA
Chest with the relics of San Millán
Lower photo: a copy of the Glosas Emilianenses
44 -
San Millán de la Cogolla
Cradle of language and spirit
If there is one place where the soul of La Rioja be-
comes word, it is San Millán de la Cogolla. Nestled
among mountains and beech forests, this small mo-
nastic enclave holds a treasure that goes beyond the
religious: the first written testimonies of Spanish and
Basque. In the monasteries of Suso and Yuso, decla-
red World Heritage Sites, the copyist monks wrote,
around the year 1000, in the margins of learned La-
tin texts, the famous Glosas Emilianenses — small
clarifications or translations into the vulgar Latin or
Romance spoken by the people which, unknowingly,
gave birth to the language spoken today across half
the world. Just 43 words with their own meaning and
grammatical structure, contained mainly in Folio 72
and referring to a prayer to the Holy Trinity.
But San Millán is much more than a linguistic relic:
it is a place of silence, stone and light. The monas-
tery of Suso, the older one, preserves its pre-Roma-
nesque atmosphere and austere beauty, while Yuso,
built centuries later, displays Baroque magnificence,
with cloisters, altarpieces and a library that smells of
parchment and wisdom. Together, they embody the
Riojan spirit: faith, culture and continuity.
Monastery of Yuso. © Rafael Lafuente