Monastery of Tibães
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Monastery of St Martin of Tibães (Portuguese: Mosteiro de São Martinho de Tibães) is a monastery situated in the village of Tibães, near Braga, in northern Portugal. It was the mother house of the Benedictine order in Portugal and Brazil, and it is famous for the exuberant baroque decoration of its church.
[edit] History
The first information about a monastic community in the region dates from the 6th century, when a monastery was founded by Saint Martin of Braga. Around 1060 the Monastery was rebuilt and its feudal rights were granted by Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal, in 1110. During the Middle Ages, after the Kingdom of Portugal became independent, rich and vast proterties in the North of the country came into the possession of the Monastery. Due to the reconstruction works carried out in the 17th and 18th centuries, there are no architectural remnants from this early stage of the ensemble.
In 1567, the Monastery of Tibães became the mother house of the Order of Saint Benedict for Portugal and the colony of Brazil, with the first general gathering of the Order happening in Tibães in 1570. In the first half of the 17th century, in view of the ruined condition of the former buildings and the vast resources at their disposal, the monks started the great works which originated the ensemble that exists today. They began with the cloisters (Refectory and Cemetery cloisters) and the church, built between 1628 and 1661 in Mannerist style by architects Manuel Álvares and João Turriano. Until the begining of the 18th century the new wings of the Monastery were finished, including the Gate House, the Dormitory, the Guest House, the Chapter House and the Library.
During the 17th and 18th centuries the Monastery was a site of considerable artistic activity and had an enormous influence in the Baroque and Rococo art of Northern Portugal. The decoration of the church, in particular, is a landmark in Portuguese Baroque, thanks to the work of artists like Cipriano da Cruz, André Soares and José de Santo António Vilaça.
Sold at an auction sale in 1864, the Tibães Monastery and all its surrounding areas fell into decay and ruin. A great part of the ensemble, including the Refectory Cloister, was destroyed in a fire in 1894. In 1986 the Monastery became a State property and an extensive recovery project was started that continues to this day.
[edit] References
- National Institute of Architectonic Heritage (in Portuguese).
- General Bureau for National Buildings and Monuments (in Portuguese).
