Dominic de La Calzada - Dominic and Alfonso VI

Dominic and Alfonso VI

Alfonso VI of Castile annexed La Rioja in 1076 and seeing that Dominic’s efforts contributed to the Castilianization of the region, decided to support him and his projects. He visited Dominic in 1090 and thereafter Dominic, assisted by his follower Juan de Ortega, began construction on a church dedicated to Christ and the Virgin Mary. This was consecrated by the bishop of Calahorra in 1106.

The town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada began as a few houses built around the hermitage of the saint in his lifetime. At this death in 1109, the village had grown in population. Dominic's church, later the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, was where he was buried, and it was elevated to the rank of cathedral after being placed in the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Calahorra in the 1230s.