The Ribeira Sacra region comprises the lands bathed by the Rivers Sil and Miño, in the area of inland Galicia where these two rivers meet. In the last few kilometres before it flows into the River Miño, at the hamlet of Os Peares, the River Sil runs along the border between the provinces of Lugo and Ourense through a deep canyon, thus creating an uncommon and impressive landscape that is the area's seal of identity
It was here in these lands, in either bucolic or rugged sites, that monks and hermits came to lead an ascetic life at the beginning of the Christian era. These settlements, with the passing of time, became flourishing monasteries from where art, culture and material progress spread out to all of Galicia. Hence the name of Ribeira Sacra (Sacred Riverbank), from which there is written evidence since the 12th century.