La Rioja has the most mysterious urbex in depopulated Spain — Turruncún in the Préjano mountains, an abandoned mining village since 1975 where the church holds human remains beneath the floor and whose name was born from the sound of a stone rolling down the mountain. Located 9 kilometers from Arnedo, perched on a hill of reddish conglomerates, Turruncún is one of the most specifically Riojan and photogenically unique abandoned villages in Spain. Discover the 5 best abandoned places in La Rioja, selected from our Urbex Spain Map — 600+ GPS locations across Spain.
Why La Rioja Is an Exceptional Urbex Destination
La Rioja Baja concentrates in its mountains a density of abandoned villages due to coal mining that no other La Rioja region can match. La Rioja Alta adds the conventual and monastic heritage of a community that had more monasteries per square kilometer than any other Spanish region. The Ebro River separates the two worlds; the La Rioja urbex scene covers both with a variety of typologies that surprises given the size of the community.
1. Turruncún – Arnedo, La Rioja — Abandoned Mining Village in 1975, Church of Santa María with Human Remains, Reddish Conglomerates, Geological Point of Interest (Known Location)
Turruncún in the Préjano mountains is the most famous abandoned village in La Rioja — a coal mining settlement that once had 300 inhabitants in the early 20th century and was officially declared depopulated in 1975 when the mines closed. The Church of Santa María holds human remains beneath the floor — the 5.1 magnitude earthquake in 1929 cracked the ground and brought to the surface bones that the church’s interior cemetery had kept for generations. The Paleogene conglomerates surrounding the village form reddish ridges known as the "Moros" or "Horses of Turruncún" — a top-tier geological setting that makes the visit an exceptional experience combining archaeology, abandonment, and landscape. Access is free from Arnedo. Documented by EscapadaRural and Noticias del Vino as the most emblematic abandonment in La Rioja.
🔗 Source: EscapadaRural – 7 Abandoned Villages in Spain
2. Valvanera Monastery – Sierra de la Demanda, La Rioja — Medieval Benedictine Monastery, Rock Hermitage, Marian Sanctuary in the Demanda Forest (Known Location)
The Valvanera Monastery in the Sierra de la Demanda is one of the most photogenic medieval monastic complexes in La Rioja — although the main monastery is still in use as a Marian sanctuary, the ruins of the surrounding medieval complex and the abandoned historic paths through the Demanda forest create a unique atmosphere of partial abandonment in the community. The Riojan Sierra de la Demanda, with its beech and oak forests, provides a landscape context for monastic heritage that the Ebro plain cannot offer: medieval ruins in the Atlantic forest are the most specifically Riojan image of religious urbex. Widely documented as a reference for Riojan historical heritage.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Must-See Abandoned Sites in Spain →
3. Abandoned Mining Village – Lower La Rioja — Coal Miners’ Town, Stone Houses, Sealed Mine Entrances, Préjano Mountains (Only on Our Map)
A mining village in the Préjano mountains — stone houses with sunken roofs where coal miners lived, sealed mine entrances on the hillside, and remnants of mining infrastructure among the low mountain vegetation. The Riojan mountains had a coal mining activity that few inland Spanish regions can match; when the mines closed between the 60s and 75s, the villages that depended on them emptied within a generation. They are the most unknown industrial heritage of La Rioja and the most specifically mountainous in the community. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
4. Abandoned Cistercian Convent – La Rioja Alta — 12th Century Romanesque Cloister, Single-Nave Church, Monastic Winery with Large Jars (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 12th-century Cistercian convent in La Rioja Alta — the Romanesque cloister with its carved capitals, the single-nave church with the barrel vault still standing, and the monastic winery with the large jars where monks made Rioja wine before the term "Rioja" became synonymous with wine worldwide. La Rioja had more monasteries per square kilometer than any other Spanish region — the Camino de Santiago, the Reconquista, and the agricultural wealth of the Ebro funded an exceptional conventual density; the disentailment emptied them and oblivion preserved them. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
5. Abandoned Village of the Ebro Valley – Rioja Baja — 19th Century Agricultural Village, Adobe Houses, Underground Wine Cellars, Overgrown Vineyards (Off the Radar — Only on Our Map)
A 19th-century agricultural village in the Ebro valley of La Rioja — adobe houses with flat tile roofs, underground wine cellars where the harvest wine was stored, and vineyards overtaken by vegetation in the flat Ebro landscape. The Ebro valley in La Rioja has a completely different abandonment typology than the mountains: adobe houses instead of stone, underground wine cellars instead of wine presses, and a vineyard and cereal landscape that makes the abandonment more horizontal and melancholic than that of the mountains. Find it on our map — with access rating and condition report.
Safety Tips
- Mine Entrances: never approach any mine entrance or ground depression near mining facilities — some are superficially sealed but unstable; falling into a dead-end gallery is fatal
- Adobe walls: adobe deteriorates faster than stone in rain — never enter a room whose adobe wall has visible cracks or leaning; they can collapse without warning
- Never explore alone — always take at least one other person and share your location
The urbex code: "Leave everything as you found it — the next explorer deserves the same experience."
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous abandoned place in La Rioja?
Turruncún in the Préjano mountains — the mining village abandoned in 1975 whose name came from the sound of a stone rolling down the mountain, with the church of Santa María containing human remains beneath the floor and the reddish ridges of the "Horses of Turruncún" as a unique geological backdrop. It is the most sought-after and most photographed abandonment in all of La Rioja.
Why does La Rioja have so many historic monasteries?
During the Reconquista, La Rioja was the border territory between the Christian kingdoms of the north and Al-Ándalus — a colonization zone that medieval monasticism, especially the Cistercians and Benedictines, repopulated with monasteries that were simultaneously spiritual, agricultural, and cultural centers. The wealth of the Ebro and the Camino de Santiago crossing the region funded an exceptional density of convents for centuries. The 1836 disentailment emptied them in just a few years.
How to get to Turruncún?
Turruncún is about 9 kilometers from Arnedo via the LR-123 road. From Logroño, the trip takes about an hour via the N-232 and LR-123. Access to the village itself is via a dirt track from nearby; you can park on the outskirts and reach it on foot in a few minutes. There are no tourist facilities on site — bring water and suitable footwear for uneven terrain.
🎯 Summary
Explore the abandoned places in La Rioja: from Turruncún with its reddish conglomerate "Horses" and the bones in the church to the Cistercian convent with the monastic winery and the Ebro villages with their underground wine cellars. Each of these 5 abandoned sites in La Rioja captures a different layer of Spain’s smallest community that has wine, history, and, hidden in the mountains, the village whose name was born from a stone rolling down the mountain.
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