Samos - Monasterio de San Julián

The foundation of the monastery is attributed to Martin of Braga. It is known to have been renovated by Saint Fructuoso in the seventh century. The first written mention of this event is from 665. An inscription on the walls says that the Bishop of Lugo Ermefredo rebuilt it. After this restoration it was abandoned before the Muslim invasion until the reconquest of King Fruela I of Asturias, which took place around 760. When, years later, he was assassinated, his widow and son, the future Alfonso II of Asturias ("the Chaste"), found refuge here. That earned the monastery royal protection, starting with the properties in a half-mile radius.

In the early tenth century, the bishop of Lugo attempted to seize control and expelled the monks. The Counts Arias Menéndez and Gutierre Menéndez,were required to repopulate the new monastery with monks. Thereafter there were good relations between the monastery and the Count's family.

In the same century it was reoccupied at the behest of King Ordoño II of León. From 960 the community lived under the rule of St. Benedict. The monastery of Samos enjoyed great importance during the Middle Ages. In 1558, already incorporated into the Royal San Benito of Valladolid, the monastery suffered a fire that forced its complete rebuilding.