My wife and I visited the monastery of Alcobaça in 2010. This year we visited it again, now with our son.
 |
| Monastery of Alcobaça |
 |
| Monastery of Alcobaça |
The church and monastery were the first Gothic buildings in Portugal, and, together with the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, it was one of the most important of the mediaeval monasteries in Portugal. - in: wikipedia
 |
| Monastery of Alcobaça and Tombs of D. Pedro and Inês |
This postcard was sent by Ana "galueth28".
In the transept of the church are located the tombs of King Pedro I and his mistress, Inês de Castro, who was assassinated, in 1355, under the orders of Peter's father, King Afonso IV. After becoming King, Pedro ordered the remains of his beloved to be transferred to her tomb in Alcobaça and, according to a popular legend, made her be crowned as Queen of Portugal and ordered court members to pay her homage by kissing her decomposing hand.
This pair of Royal tombs in Alcobaça, of unknown authorship, are among the best works of gothic sculpture in Portugal. The tombs are supported by lions, in the case of the King, and half-men half-beasts, in the case of Ines, and both carry the recumbent figures of the deceased assisted by a group of angels. The sides of Pedro's tomb are magnificently decorated with reliefs showing scenes fromSaint Bartholomew's life, as well as scenes from Pedro and Ines' life. Her tomb is decorated with scenes from the life of Christ, including the Crucifixion and with the Last Judgement. - in: wikipedia
 |
| Alcobaça Monastery Cloister |
This postcard was sent by José "PilotOne"
The cloister of the monastery was built during the reign of, and sponsored by, King Dinis I. It is one of the largest mediaeval Cistercian cloisters in Europe. Its columns are decorated by capitals with animal and vegetal motifs. The builder was the Portuguese architect Domingo Domingues. The Gothic Fountain Hall has an elegant early renaissance water basin inside, decorated with renaissance motifs including the coat-of-arms of the monastery and reliefs of gryphs. The second floor of the cloister, in manueline style as revealed by its typical twisted columns, was built in the early 16th century. - in: wikipedia
 |
| Chapter House |
This room, where the monks gathered to discuss the daily matters concerning the monastery, was the most important room after the church. Their daily gathering began by listening to the reading of a chapter from the Rule of St Benedict. The entrance to the house is through a Romanesque-style portal with two similar windows on each side. The room is now filled with Baroque statues created by the monks for the main chapel of the church.
 |
| Royal Pantheon |
From the right arm of the transept, one reaches the Royal Pantheon, a room built in the end of the 18th century in Neo-Gothic style, being the earliest Neo-Gothic architecture in Portugal.
The Royal Pantheon has the 13th-century tombs of two queens of Portugal, Urraca of Castile and Beatrix of Castile, married respectively to Kings Afonso II and Afonso III. There are smaller tombs of unidentified princes. The most remarkable tomb is that of Queen Urraca (died in 1220), buried in a richly decorated late Romanesque tomb. A relief showing the queen is seen over the tomb, and the sides are decorated with the Apostles under a round arched gallery. Other reliefs show the king, surrounded by their children, mourning the late queen, as well as Christ surrounded by a mandorla and the symbols of the four Evangelists. Other tombs are richly decorated with arabesques of Mudéjar-Romanesque style, as well as the Apostles.
 |
| Room of the Kings |
This room, located close to the entrance of the church, has a series of 17th–18th century statues representing the kings of Portugal. The walls are decorated with blue-white 18th century tiles that tell the history of the Monastery of Alcobaça, since its foundation by Afonso Henriques. - in: wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment