Cartoixa de Santa Maria d'Escaladei
The Cartoixa de Santa Maria d'Escaladei is a former charterhouse from the 12th century in Catalonia . It is located in the district of La Morera de Montsant in the province of Tarragona . The priory of the monastery complex is the origin of the comarca and the wine-growing region Priorat .
history
The Carthusian Monastery of Escaladei ( Ladder of God ) was the first monastery of the Carthusian Order on the Iberian Peninsula . It was founded in 1194 by Alfonso II of Aragon .
The first buildings of the monastery were the church of Santa Maria , consecrated in 1228, and the first monastery, called "Maius", framed by twelve cells and with the essential components of a monastery such as the chapter house , the refectory , some chapels and supply buildings outside the actual monastery grounds. These buildings can be assigned to the transition between Romanesque and Gothic .
As early as 1218, the monastic community was consolidated and thanks to gifts from King Jaume I began to extend rule and jurisdiction over the surrounding villages: La Morera , Gratallops , Torroja , Porrera , Poboleda and La Vilella Alta . This is how the priory came into being .
The great reputation and royal protection made it possible to expand the monastery. With the support of the Infante Joan d'Aragón, son of Jaume II , who was also Archbishop of Tarragona , a second - now purely Gothic - monastery with a further twelve cells was built in 1333 and the capacity of the Charterhouse doubled. In 1403, further donations made it possible to build the third - high Gothic - monastery with the last six cells.
The numerous extensions had led to different architectural styles in the Charterhouse. In the 16th century, a reconstruction of the entire monastery complex was therefore tackled. After the renovations in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Charterhouse consisted of buildings from the Baroque and Classicism periods . During this time, the Cartoixa d'Escaladei was a cultural center and style-setting in painting.
With the disamortization in Spain under Mendizábal , the Carthusians were expropriated in 1835 and had to leave the monastery. The charterhouse was looted the next day and burned down a little later. The monastery buildings were almost completely destroyed within just two years. The monastery property and the valuables that had survived the looting were publicly auctioned in 1843.
In 1980, the ruins of the Cartoixa d'Escaladei were finally declared a National Heritage (Bé Cultural d'Interès Nacional) . In 1989 the owners handed the entire complex over to the Generalitat de Catalunya , which has since secured, restored and opened the complex to visitors.
literature
- Scala Dei, primera cartoixa de la peninsula iberica i l'orde cartoixa. Actes, congrés internacional, 21, 22 and 23 de setembre de 1996, a l'antiga hostatgeria de la cartoixa de Scala Dei (= Analecta Cartusiana. 139). Scala Dei et al., La Morena de Montsant 1999, ISBN 3-901995-36-6 .
Web links
- Information and pictures on Monasterios de Catalunya
- Escaladei . Publications in the bibliographic database of the Regesta Imperii .
Coordinates: 41 ° 15 ′ 25.7 " N , 0 ° 48 ′ 36.4" E