2008 Romanesque in the Sousa Valley.Pdf
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ROMANESQUE IN THE SOUSA VALLEY ATLANTIC OCEAN Porto Sousa Valley PORTUGAL Lisbon S PA I N AFRICA FRANCE I TA LY MEDITERRANEAN SEA Index 13 Prefaces 31 Abbreviations 33 Chapter I – The Romanesque Architecture and the Scenery 35 Romanesque Architecture 39 The Romanesque in Portugal 45 The Romanesque in the Sousa Valley 53 Dynamics of the Artistic Heritage in the Modern Period 62 Territory and Landscape in the Sousa Valley in the 19th and 20th centuries 69 Chapter II – The Monuments of the Route of the Romanesque of the Sousa Valley 71 Church of Saint Peter of Abragão 73 1. The church in the Middle Ages 77 2. The church in the Modern Period 77 2.1. Architecture and space distribution 79 2.2. Gilding and painting 81 3. Restoration and conservation 83 Chronology 85 Church of Saint Mary of Airães 87 1. The church in the Middle Ages 91 2. The church in the Modern Period 95 3. Conservation and requalification 95 Chronology 97 Castle Tower of Aguiar de Sousa 103 Chronology 105 Church of the Savior of Aveleda 107 1. The church in the Middle Ages 111 2. The church in the Modern Period 112 2.1. Renovation in the 17th-18th centuries 115 2.2. Ceiling painting and the iconographic program 119 3. Restoration and conservation 119 Chronology 121 Vilela Bridge and Espindo Bridge 127 Church of Saint Genes of Boelhe 129 1. The church in the Middle Ages 134 2. The church in the Modern Period 138 3. Restoration and conservation 139 Chronology 141 Church of the Savior of Cabeça Santa 143 1. The church in the Middle Ages 151 2. The church in the Modern Period 152 2.1. Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary 153 3. Restoration and conservation 155 Chronology 157 Monastery of Saint Peter of Cête 159 1. The monastery in the Middle Ages 169 1.1. Funerary sculpture 169 1.2. Other epigraphies 170 1.3. Mural painting 170 2. The church in the Modern Period 171 3. Restoration and conservation 171 3.1. Restoration in the 19th century 172 3.2. Restoration in the 20th century 173 Chronology 175 Hermitage of Our Lady of the Valley 187 Chronology 189 Church of Saint Michael of Entre-os-Rios 191 1. The church in the Middle Ages 196 2. The church in the Modern Period 196 2.1. The parish church: the community’s focal point 198 2.2. Architecture, gilding and iconography 200 3. Restoration and conservation 201 Chronology 203 Monastery of Saint Peter of Ferreira 205 1. The monastery in the Middle Ages 216 1.1. Funerary sculpture 217 2. The church in the Modern Period 217 3. Restoration and conservation 221 Chronology 223 Hermitage Memorial and Marmoreal of Sobrado 233 Chronology 235 Church of Saint Mary of Meinedo 237 1. The church in the Middle Ages 240 1.1. The image of Saint Mary of Meinedo 242 2. The church in the Modern Period 244 2.1. Gilding, painting and tiling 249 3. Restoration and conservation 249 Chronology 251 Monastery of the Savior of Paço de Sousa 253 1. The monastery in the Middle Ages 263 1.1. The tomb of Egas Moniz 267 1.2. Epigraphies 267 2. The monastery in the Modern Period 269 2.1. Architecture 270 2.2. Church gilding, imagery and iconographic composition 274 3. Restoration and conservation 274 3.1. Renovation in the 19th century 276 3.2. Renovation in the 20th century 279 Chronology 281 Monastery of Saint Mary of Pombeiro 283 1. The monastery in the Middle Ages 292 1.1. The image of Saint Mary of Pombeiro 293 1.2. Funerary sculpture 295 1.3. Epigraphies 296 1.4. Mural painting 299 2. The monastery in the Modern Period 301 2. 1. The monastery and the Order of Saint Benedict in Portugal 303 2. 2. Renovation of the monastery’s church and sacristy 309 3. The monastery and the fencing in the 19th century 311 3.1. Restoration and conservation 312 Chronology 315 Church of Saint Vincent of Sousa 317 1. The church in the Middle Ages 323 2. The church in the Modern Period 326 2. 1. Iconographic programs of the altars and ceiling 331 3. Conservation and requalification 331 Chronology 333 Church of the Savior of Unhão 335 1. The church in the Middle Ages 341 2. The church in the Modern Period 341 2.1. Architecture, bell tower and via-sacra 343 2.2. Gilding, painting and tiling 346 3. Restoration and conservation 347 Chronology 349 Tower of Vilar 355 Chronology 357 Church of Saint Mammes of Vila Verde 359 1. The church in the Middle Ages 365 2. The church in the Modern Period 366 3. Conservation and requalification 367 Chronology 369 Glossary 377 Bibliography Prefaces The Importance of the RRSV to the Sousa Valley Region Heritage is increasingly becoming a differentiating factor in the competition between regions. Asides from 15 emulating and reconciling the forthcoming generations with history, it is also an ethical obligation in good public management to place it at the service of the community. In the Sousa Valley, we sought to explore that way. Sometimes we felt it is a rough path upon facing our territory’s difficulties, particularly the diffuse territorial organization and the – yet – persistent insensitivity towards the subject. However, even though the RRSV is not exactly the goose that found in the Sousa Valley the ideal place to lay its golden eggs, it is certainly a powerful instrument to help us turn the image of the Region around and endow it with a top quality touristic product, well matured and structured, with the world’s best in this particular area. Let us all – politicians, public and (especially) private entities – know how to take its reins so that it will not fade after the first rainfall. At the time of its birth, it is also fair to remember all of those who dreamt, idealized, worked, left, embraced and still give their souls for this project. They are many and therefore would not fit this page. Alberto Santos President of Valsousa – The Sousa Valley’s Urban Community 16 The Route of the Romanesque of the Sousa Valley and Regional Development The diagnosis elaborated in recent years for the Sousa Valley has shown how urgent it is to create an in- 17 tegrated development strategy for this space, providing for its self-support, the organization and balance of the territory, the concern with human resources and the exploration of its endogenous, socio-cultural and environmental potential. The development of the region depends, therefore, of the integration, articulation and strengthening/con- sistency of all these vectors. It is up to the local entities and agents, in an initial intervention stage, to insure the necessary conditions to let that process occur. In this sense, the still significant and valuable patrimony of the Sousa Valley – particularly its Romanesque buildings – should be a milestone in the promotion of the cultural/patrimonial tourism. Its growing demand opens new perspectives in the diversification of economical activities, promoting a possible income and job source in the local communities and spiking up the traditional trade. Thus, the promotion of cultural tourism is an indispensable element to create synergies that will allow us to draw public and private investment, increase the profit from the local touristic clusters, grant a general quality to the image of the touristic destinations and compensate the public investment in the recuperation, improvement and maintenance of specific patrimonial objects or in the restoration of cultural equipments. The Route of the Romanesque of the Sousa Valley (RRSV), planed for an implementation in several steps articulated in time and in space, has the intention of becoming a factor of progress and of socio-cultural qualification for the local communities and, ultimately, contributing to the region’s development. Initiated with works affecting the infrastructures, which allowed to improve its 21 monuments, the Route will gain life, identity and sustainability through the process of promoting, spreading the word and activi- ties around this patrimony. The conducted works are already visible, and those that are being carried out and programmed for the upcoming years provide a frankly optimistic perspective of this pilot-project’s future and its impact in the region. As it progresses, we observe a growing adherence and enthusiasm by the countless intervenients in its construction process, simultaneously with the progressive consolidation of its support and manage- ment structure. In fact, the RRSV has come to conquer, from its start, an increasingly determinant part and its own space as a project of collaboration and partnership between entities, technical teams, local agents, residents and visitors, which should motivate us to add new contributes and competences to the project, expanding its effects in the valuing of the patrimony and its surrounding territory. 18 Cristina de Azevedo Vice-President of the Committee of Regional Coordination and Development of the North Patrimony as an Element of the Territory’s Identity In our days, man experiences the need to know, to see and to feel where he came from in order to decide 19 his future course. This need leads us to preserve, according to scientific and updated criteria, the remai- ning testimonies of the life, art and culture of the past, thus embodying an aspiration of the contemporary society of fighting the loss of its roots. Just like a landscape can materialize the memory of an event, the physical patrimony, in order to maintain its cultural interest, cannot be dissociated from certain environmental and existential characteristics that compose the survival of the collective conscience of the communities that built, lived and inhabit it.