66 “SOUSA VALLEY” ROUTE 12. Monastery OF SAINT PETER OF FERREIRA Avenida do Mosteiro he Church of the Monastery of Saint Peter of Fer- de Ferreira, Ferreira Treira is a very unique and high-quality building that Paços de Ferreira invites us for a dazzling visit. This Church is one of the 41° 15’ 53.388” N most refined Portuguese Romanesque monuments. 8° 20’ 37.661” W The origin of the Monastery’s foundation is not com- pletely clear yet, although it was certainly founded be- +351 918 116 488 fore 1182, the date when we find it explicitly mentioned and when the construction of the temple - still preserved Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 8 pm today - probably began. However, its origin is much ear- Sunday, 10.30 am lier, probably dating back to the 10th century, as suggest- Saint Peter ed by a reference made to it in Mumadona Dias’s will 29th June from 959. There are no remains of the Church from this period. The oldest remaining elements correspond to a National Monument 1928 first Romanesque church that would have been built be- tween the late 11th century and the early 12th century. th P. 25 In the 13 century, between 1258 and 1293, the Mon- astery becomes part of the Order of the Canons Regular. In the 15th century, when the Order was extinct, the P. 25 “couto” [a type of Portuguese administrative division] and its adjoining properties were transferred to the Yes House of the bishop of Porto. Composed of a wood-covered nave, the Monastery of “SOUSA VALLEY” ROUTE 67 Ferreira features a vaulted chevet divided protruding pilasters decorated with sco- in two bays; the first bay is larger and tias, an unusual solution within the Por- higher, while adopting a typical solution tuguese Romanesque context. from the Romanesque style of the Alto The chancel arch features capitals similar Minho region, whose influences are asso- to the ones of the Churches of Fervença ciated with the architecture of the region (Celorico de Basto) (p. 248), Valdreu covered by the diocese of Tui (Spain). (Vila Verde) or Ermelo (Arcos de Valde- On the inside, the chevet of the Church vez), which are inspired in models from of Ferreira is polygonal, despite being the Alto Minho region, despite their less semi-circular on the outside. The build- bulky treatment. ing presents two storeys: the first features The main façade’s portal is integrated blind arcades, two of which mitered and into a pentagonal volume, a similar solu- the second with an arcade elevation al- tion to the one found in the Churches of ternated with crevices. Its main chapel is, Sousa (p. 38), Unhão (p. 42) and Airães therefore, relatively high and the body of (p. 47), which are located in Felgueiras. the nave is even more so, thus offering a The large west portal with four columns rather Proto-Gothic sense of space. The on each side, two of which prismatic, is a chevet’s transverse arch is supported by well-designed element depicting a highly 68 “SOUSA VALLEY” ROUTE valuable decorative treatment. Its orna- and spread formal and thematic mod- mentation is based on a torus-shaped pro- els from the Ave and Sousa basins that file placed along the arcades’ extra dorsum, reached several churches in the Braga and which is emphasized by a large hole. Guimarães regions. This decoration, which has been com- We should highlight the sculptural qual- pared with the one found on the Gate ity of the capitals from the lateral portals, of the Bishop of the Zamora cathedral some with ribbons and animals and others (Spain), is rather different from that spec- with botanic decorations, which resemble imen. The origin of the decorative pattern the motifs used in the Churches of Pom- of the portal of Ferreira does not lie there; beiro (p. 30) and Unhão, in Felgueiras. it is much closer to the one of the church From the combination of these elements, of Saint Martin of Salamanca (Spain) and it is possible to infer that this Church, built even closer to the typical decorative so- between the early and the mid-13th century, lutions of Seville’s Almohad art (Spain) simultaneously adopted models from re- from the second half of the 12th century. gional architecture of its time and from the This portal also shows some similarities Romanesque style of the Alto Minho re- with models from the Braga cathedral. gion, Andalusia, and even Castile (Spain). This cathedral and the church of the for- The architectural unity and the plastic mer Benedictine monastery of São Pedro precision of this work show that the tem- de Rates (Póvoa de Varzim) were Ro- ple was probably built over a short pe- manesque building sites that concocted riod of time, benefiting from exceptional “SOUSA VALLEY” ROUTE 69 technical, material and financial condi- demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of tions within the context of Romanesque the sculpture of the Santiago de Compos- construction in Portugal, considering tela cathedral (Spain), made before Mas- that the Church was built between 1180 ter Mateus’s work. It is considered that the and 1195. capitals of the western portal are accurate- It is noticeable the presence of three mas- ly based on the design from Compostela. ters in the Church of the Monastery of The chevet was also probably designed Ferreira: one from the Zamora region, by the master from León (Spain), who another from Coimbra, and the third would be assisted by artists from Coim- one with professional experience in the bra. The upper level of the internal el- building sites of the Vale do Sousa. evation shows similarities both with the The similarities with the Gate of the Bish- Coimbra cathedral and the collegiate of op of the Zamora cathedral are obvious, Saint James, located in the same city. In despite some differences in the number the last quarter of the 12th century, Mas- of projections, in the decoration of the ter Soeiro Anes, who had collaborated jambs and in the outline of the combs, with Master Roberto in the Coimbra ca- which are rope-shaped in the Spanish thedral, together with several artists who city while, in Ferreira, these are circular. had worked in this cathedral’s building The portals of other churches from Zamo- site, moved to Porto. ra - Saint Thomas, Saint Mary of Horta, The nave is an element that should be Saint Ildephonse, Saint James of Burgo highlighted due to its unusual height. and Saint Leonard - have circular combs That is why features buttresses on the like the ones in Ferreira. This master, or outside and addorsed columns on the in- the artists who worked with him, also side, which help to support it. 70 “SOUSA VALLEY” ROUTE The lateral façades are surmounted by rante) (p. 224). Judging by the existing a cornice formed by small arches rest- documents, the church of Saint Martin ing on corbels, a solution we also see in of Cedofeita (Porto) also had a similar the Monasteries of Paço de Sousa (Pena- element that, in the case of the Church fiel) (p. 90) and in Roriz (Santo Tirso), of the Monastery of Pombeiro, adopted a among others examples. more monumental dimension. In front of the main façade, the Church In the Monastery of Paço de Sousa, this preserves the ruins of a porch or galilee element was located on the side of the for funerary purposes, which is an excel- Church, as it probably happened in Ror- lent and rare example of this type of con- iz (Santo Tirso), and is still exemplified structions, present in many Romanesque today in the lateral chapel of the church churches. This element corresponds to a of Ansiães (Carrazeda de Ansiães). space reserved for burials and funeral rites, These solutions were probably a result of of which there are surviving examples in the ban on burials inside churches which the churches of Serzedelo (Guimarães), was in effect for a long time. Through Vilarinho (Santo Tirso) and Friestas donations to monastic communities, the (Valença) - demolished during the 1935 nobles chose the galilee as their burial restoration - as well as some sections in space, thus ensuring that the monastic the Monastery of Freixo de Baixo (Ama- community complied with their testa- “SOUSA VALLEY” ROUTE 71 mentary dispositions as a way to achieve monastic chambers disappeared or un- salvation. However, despite the fact that derwent deep transformations. Before their primary function was a funerary the restoration works began, the Church one, these porches were also used for of the Monastery of Ferreira was masked shelter, trial sessions and other legal acts. by aesthetic frenzies produced in the Mod- From the tombs of Ferreira only two fu- ern Period. By way of example, we may nerary pieces remain: a trapezoidal sar- refer the high choir, which was deemed at cophagus and the sepulchral lid, with the time as an element that concealed the lying statue, of João Vasques da Granja’s temple’s superb austerity. The choir, built tomb, currently at the Municipal Mu- between the 17th and the 18th centuries, seum of Paços de Ferreira (p. 256). From took up a fourth of the nave’s space, lean- the entire monastic ensemble of Ferreira ing against the main façade. only the Church remains, given that the ORNAMENTAL UNIQUENESS What makes the Church of the Monastery of Ferreira such a unique work - besides the excellency of its architecture, is the fact that it combines, in perfect harmony and in common parts of the Church, architectural designs and ornamental motifs from different regions and workshops: Zamora-Compostela (Spain), Coimbra-Porto and Braga-Unhão.