Soria - San Juan de Rabanera

Soria is located on the Douro River at about 1065 meters above sea level.

A strategic enclave due to the struggles for territory between the kingdoms of Castile, Navarre, and Aragon, Soria became part of Castile definitively in 1134, during the reign of Alfonso VII. Alfonso VIII was born in Soria in 1155. Booming during the Late Middle Ages thanks to its border location and its control over the cattle industry. In 1380, a court order forbade the Jews to try their own criminal cases in court. In addition, a decree was confirmed, according to which Jews were not allowed to be employed in the royal administration or among the nobility. These resolutions served as the basis for hate speeches that led to the massacre of the Jewish population in 1391. Soria went into a slow decline over the next few centuries. It was damaged greatly during the Peninsular War.

The construction of the Romanesque church of San Juan de Rabanera, began in the 12th century, but the church has been refurbished since and had the addition of chapels.

During the Baroque period, it underwent major transformations. Fortunately, the restorations carried out in the 20th century managed to restore the building, to a large extent, its Romanesque purity.

The sculpted main portal derives from the razed church of San Nicolás, moved here in 1908.

Mary Magdalene anointing Jesus's feet (left) and the doubting Thomas (right).