Arouca Monastery
The Arouca Monastery was an important Cistercian monastery in Arouca in northern Portugal . The buildings and art treasures bear witness to its great time in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the former convent building there is now a museum for sacred art. The church, which is consecrated to Mary , the Mother of God , is particularly popular with pilgrims as the place of work and burial of the Blessed Mafalda of Portugal . The building complex has been listed as a Monumento nacional since 1910 .
history
The complex goes back to a Benedictine monastery from the 10th century. It received immunity in the 12th century and developed into the political and administrative center of the region. Decisive for the further development was Mafalda of Portugal , as wife of Henry I briefly Queen of Castile , then a nun in Arouca († 1257). At her instigation, the convent joined the order of the Cistercians . She made generous gifts to the monastery.
Arouca experienced a new spiritual and material heyday in the 17th century. At this time, a complete new construction of the complex in the early Baroque style, based on the Herrera style , began, which continued into the early 18th century. Important artists such as Diogo Teixeira , Carlos Gimac and Miguel Francisco da Silva participated.
In the 19th century, the monastery experienced its decline. In 1886, after the death of the last conventual, it was abolished. Buildings and inventory went to the state. After intensive restoration work, the building complex is now in good condition.
Web links
- Mosteiro de Arouca, compreendendo o túmulo de Santa Mafalda. In: Pesquisa Geral - Pesquisa do Patrimonio. Direção Geral do Património Cultural , accessed March 27, 2018 (Portuguese).
- Museum website (Portuguese)
Coordinates: 40 ° 55 ′ 40.9 " N , 8 ° 14 ′ 47.6" W.