Frómista

Frómista reached its golden age in the medieval period. Around 1066, according to Queen Doña Mayor's testament, the Monastery of San Martín was established with its Romanesque church. In 1118, Queen Doña Urraca donated the monastery to Benedictine monks from Carrión.

For centuries, the town was split between two jurisdictions: ecclesiastical control over the San Martín quarter and civil lordship over the rest. Gómez Benavides unified both areas in 1427 and founded the Monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia in 1436. The town's medieval art treasures and pilgrim hospitals flourished thanks to the Camino de Santiago route.

Frómista became famous for three elements: San Telmo (a 13th-century religious figure who became patron of seafarers), a eucharistic miracle in 1453 that earned the town the nickname "Villa del Milagro," and a significant Jewish community. Jews settled here from Fernando I's reign, growing to around 200 families by the late period before their expulsion in 1492 caused major demographic and economic decline.

Frómista's position on the Camino de Santiago has preserved remarkable historical monuments. The Church of San Martín de Tours stands as one of Europe's most complete Romanesque temples, featuring harmonious apses, a crossing tower, corbels, and interior capitals carved with sacred and secular imagery. Santa María del Castillo, a Gothic church declared a cultural monument in 1944, houses three naves and suffered the theft of twelve Hispano-Flemish altarpiece panels in 1980 by Erik the Belgian.

Since 2008, it hosts "Vestigia, Leyenda del Camino," an audiovisual show about Camino stories and legends. The Gothic Church of San Pedro began construction in one century but achieved its final form later, featuring a four-story tower and a Renaissance doorway by Juan de Escalante around 1560. The Ermita del Otero contains a recently restored Romanesque Virgin sculpture.

The Castilla Canal's locks system creates Frómista's most important engineering point, where the Camino crosses the canal at its steepest gradient, featuring the only quadruple lock system along the entire route.

Frómista connects to major airports in Bilbao, Madrid and Santander, with train service available. The compact village is easily walkable. Food supplies are available at several minimarkets and the Proxim supermarket.

Banking services include multiple ATMs, with a Unicaja ATM among them. Dining options include various bars serving food and dedicated restaurants, while some accommodations also provide prepared meals. Drinking water fountains are distributed throughout the village for visitors.