Alba de Tormes

Title

Alba de Tormes

Also Known As

S. Leonardus apud Albam, S. Leonardus in Alva de Turmis

Dates

Founded ca. 1154; Hieronymite Order from 1440s; dissolved 1835

Dedication

Leonard

Affiliation

Retuerta

Medieval Diocese

Salamanca

Circary

Spain

History

The monastery of San Leonardo de Alba de Tormes was founded around 1154 by Alfonso VII of Castile. It was briefly a double house; within about ten years of its foundation, it was a house only for men. 

In 1442, the community was transferred to the Hieronymite Order, on the orders of Gutierre Álvarez de Toledo, archbishop of Toledo. It was suppressed in 1835. Today the site is home to the Museo Arqueológico Padre Belda.

Heads of Community

Abbots

Vitalis, fl. 1171
W., fl. 1185
Dominicus, fl. 1282
Alfonso, fl. 1333
Diego, fl. 1363
Ferdinand, by 1434-1441
Gutierrez Alvarez, fl. 1441/42

Status

Abbey

Archival Sources

Madrid, Archivo Histórico Nacional

ES./18

Bibliography

Arnaiz Ecker, Juan José. Fverte como vn león: el Monasterio de San Leonardo de Alba de Tormes entre la historia y la leyenda. Humanidades / Diputación de Salamanca 30. Salamanca: Ediciones de la Diputación de Salamanca, 2013.
Pinilla González, Jaime. “San Leonardo (Alba de Tormes).” In El arte de los Monasterios y Conventos despoblados de la provincia de Salamanca, 45–68. Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1978.

Image Credit

Exterior, entryway of San Leonardo de Alba de Tormes, ca. 2016. Wikimedia.

Last Updated

Oct. 2026.

Files

Collection

Spain

Citation

“Alba de Tormes,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/661.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Retuerta
Item: San Miguel de Gros DependentOn This Item