Lorvão Monastery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Outside the Lorvão Monastery with a view of the dome of the church

The Lorvão Monastery (Portuguese Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Lorvão or simply Mosteiro de Lorvão ) is located in the municipality of Lorvão , Penacova County , Coimbra District , Portugal . In the 12th century it was an important monastery and center of illumination and served as a women's monastery.

After the religious orders in Portugal expired in the 19th century, it was used as a psychiatric clinic in the 20th century, which was closed in 2012.

history

Although the time of the foundation of the monastery for the 6th century has been discussed, the year 878 with the first Christian reconquest ( Reconquista ) of Coimbra is the most likely date.

middle Ages

The monastery originally served as a male monastery. Its importance was already considerable in the 10th century and remained in the Middle Ages. In the middle of the 11th century, the monastery took over the Benedictine order rules ( Regula Benedicti ) and was dedicated to St. Mamas (Portuguese Mosteiro de São Marmede de Lorvão).

In the second half of the 12th century, during the reign of Alfonso I (Afonso I de Portugal), the first king of Portugal, significant renovations were carried out, which most likely resulted in a new cloister and a three-aisled church. This work overlaps with the leadership period by Abbot João (1162–1192), during which the monastery of Lorvão, together with the Mosteiro de Santa Cruz in Coimbra, was one of the main centers of illumination in the new kingdom. The first to be mentioned are the manuscripts Livro das Aves (Eng. "Book of Birds"), made in 1184 at the end of the reign of Alfonso I, and Apocalipse do Lorvão (Eng. "Apocalypse of Lorvão") from the Lorvão scriptorium , created 1189, during the reign of the second King Sancho I (Portugal) .

In 1206 the monastery changed to the Cistercian order and at the same time became a women's monastery, now dedicated to the Virgin Mary . It owes this profound change to Infanta Beata Teresa de Portugal, daughter of Sancho I and wife of Alfonso IX. (León) , whose marriage to the monarch of the Kingdom of León was declared invalid after having three children. She returned to Portugal and lived in the monastery until her death in 1250. In the course of the attempt of her brother, King Alfonso II (Portugal) to centralize the royal power in Portugal, violent disputes broke out in the first years (1211-1216) of his reign over the possession of some castles, including associated villages and income in the middle of the country, which the father (Sancho I.) bequeathed to the daughters in a will. The Infanta is buried today with her sister Beata Sancha de Portugal in the monastery church, in tombs made by goldsmith Manuel Carneiro da Silva in 1714 after the beatification of the Infanta in 1705.

16th to 18th century

Of the medieval parts of the building, only the Romanesque capitals in the chapels of the cloister have survived to this day . In the last quarter of the 16th century, the cloister was rebuilt in the style of the Renaissance .

Major changes began in the decade from 1620 - the portico of the church dates back to 1630 - and led to the current appearance of the monastery in the Baroque style until the 18th century . Balconies were added in the cloister (1677) and the interior of the church was decorated with Talha Dourada (gilded wood carvings). For the 18th century, the seating in the lower choir is worth mentioning, made between 1741 and 1747 in rosewood (port. Jacarandá) and walnut, as well as the reconstruction of the church under the impression of the Palácio Nacional de Mafra between 1748 and 1761.

19th century

After the Miguelistenkrieg , the abolition of religious orders in Portugal in 1834 initially only affected male monasteries. The final abolition of female religious orders was regulated in 1862, when it was decided that monasteries should be dissolved after the death of the last believers. The last nun of the Lorvão Monastery died in 1887.

Large parts of the former monastery property are now distributed among various museums in Portugal. One example is the manuscript Apocalipse do Lorvão, which was transferred to the Torre do Tombo (the Portuguese National Archives) in 1853, authorized by the nuns .

20th century

Lorvão Monastery was included in the register of national monuments in Portugal by decree 136 of June 16, 1910. Noteworthy are the church interior, the stalls in the choir, the wrought iron grille on the choir in rococo style, the cloister of silence (pt. Claustro do Silêncio) and the dome of the church.

During the dictatorship of the Estado Novo , the buildings of the monastery and all associated areas were already in an advanced stage of decay. They were converted into a psychiatric clinic on the initiative of Fernando Baeta Bissaia Barreto Rosa. This change can be traced back to the Centro de Documentação Bissaya Barreto in Coimbra using documents and photos. The establishment of a psychiatric clinic in Coimbra in 2007 sealed the closure of the clinic in Lorvão. In 2012 the last patients were transferred to other houses, mainly in Miranda do Corvo and Condeixa-a-Nova .

The inauguration of a unique example of a double-façade Spanish organ from the 18th century took place on May 3, 2014 , approx. 25 years after the start of repairs. Also in 2014, the cloister was architecturally transformed into a museum for sacred art.

Known nuns

Web links

Commons : Lorvão Monastery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 40 ° 15 ′ 33.8 ″  N , 8 ° 19 ′ 1.6 ″  W.