Sao Salvador (Castro de Avelãs)

São Salvador Monastery

Main and side apse

The Catholic parish church of São Salvador in Castro de Avelãs , a parish in the Bragança district in the district of the same name in northern Portugal , was originally the monastery church of a Benedictine monastery which was founded in the 11th century. Of the Romanesque church built in the 13th century, only the three-part choir head remains . It is made of brick and is a rare example of the Mudejar style in Portugal. In 1910 the Salvator Monastery was declared a Monumento Nacional .

history

The monastery was under the special protection of the royal family, as the monks had shown themselves to be helpful in the Reconquista . In 1545 the monastery was abolished by a papal bull , which transferred the monastery goods to the then newly founded diocese of Miranda . As a result, the monastery buildings were demolished and the church, which had been converted into a parish church, fell into disrepair. In the 18th century only the choir head remained. On the site of the old monastery church, today's much smaller church was built in the Baroque style and the old choir head was included. The north apse was converted into a sacristy .

Choir head

South apse

The main apse and the two side apses have a semicircular floor plan. The outer walls are decorated with blind arcades . Under the roof approach a sawtooth extends fries . The choir head shows great similarities with the contemporary Mudéjar churches in what was then the Kingdom of León , such as San Lorenzo and San Tirso in the northern Spanish city of Sahagún .

sarcophagus

In the southern apse there is a sarcophagus from the second half of the 13th century. Dom Nuno Martins de Chacim is buried in it, a Ricohombre who gave the Portuguese kings Alfons III. and Dom Dinis I had served. The sarcophagus originally stood in the church, the two lions that stand on pillars in front of the church today served as a base.

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  sarcophagus
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  Lions
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  lion

literature

• Gerhard N. Graf: Portugal Roman. Le Nord du Portugal . Vol. 2, Éditions Zodiaque, Abbaye de la Pierre-Qui-Vire 1987, ISBN 2-7369-0028-6 , p. 31.

Web links

Commons : São Salvador (Castro de Avelãs)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Igreja de Castro de Avelãs DGPC (Portuguese, accessed May 31, 2016)
• Mosteiro de S. Salvador de Castro de Avelãs DRCN - Delegação Regional da Cultura do Norte (Portuguese, accessed May 31, 2016)
• Igreja de Castro de Avelãs SIPA (Portuguese, accessed May 31, 2016)

Coordinates: 41 ° 47 ′ 56.2 "  N , 6 ° 48 ′ 16.4"  W.