![Valladolid monasterioValbuena01 lou](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Valladolid_monasterioValbuena01_lou.jpg)
Valbuena Abbey ( es, Monasterio de Santa María de Valbuena) is a former
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
monastery in
Valbuena de Duero
Valbuena de Duero is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 502 inhabitants.
Villages
San Bernardo is a village within Valbuena de ...
in
Valladolid Province
Valladolid () is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 municipalities, an area of and a population density of 64.19 people per ...
,
Castile-Leon,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. It stands on the right bank of the
Duero
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...
, within sight of the
royal castle of Peñafiel.
History
![San Bernardo de Duero - Monasterio de Santa Maria de Valbuena 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/San_Bernardo_de_Duero_-_Monasterio_de_Santa_Maria_de_Valbuena_3.jpg)
The monastery was founded in 1143 by Estefanía, daughter of Count
Ermengol V of Urgell Ermengol (or Armengol) V (1078 — 1102), called ''El de Mollerussa'' ("He of Mollerussa"), was the Count of Urgell from 1092 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol IV and his first wife, Lucy (''Lucía'') of Pallars.
He spent most of his life i ...
, and settled from Berdoues Abbey in France, of the filiation of
Morimond
Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Ci ...
.
The first two abbots were Martin and Ebrardo. Valbuena received a number of privileges shortly after its foundation, and flourished to the point where it was able to settle three daughter houses of its own:
Rioseco Abbey, founded in 1148;
Bonaval Abbey, founded in 1164; and
Palazuelos Abbey, founded in 1169.
In the 14th century a decline set in.
Valbuena remained a daughter house of Berdoues until 1430, when the Castilian Cistercian Congregation was established; thereafter it was a daughter house of
Poblet Abbey
Poblet Abbey, otherwise the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet ( ca, Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet), is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in C ...
.
The abbey was dissolved under the anti-ecclesiastical
Mendizábal government in 1835.
The church became a parish church.
The site was used as
Francoist
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
, operating at least from April to May 1939.
The conventual buildings passed into private ownership and were eventually acquired by a Baron Kessel, who sold them to Juan Pardo, who looked after them until 1950, when the
Instituto Nacional de Colonización
The Instituto Nacional de Colonización y Desarrollo Rural, en, National Institute of Rural Development and Colonization, was the administrative entity that was established by the Spanish State in October 1939, shortly after the end of the Spani ...
acquired the site and buildings for settlement purposes. In 1967 the
Archdiocese of Valladolid took possession of the monastery buildings, and in 1990 leased them to the foundation ''
Las Edades del Hombre
Las Edades del Hombre is a religious foundation that was created to promote the sacred art of Castilla y León (Spain). The initiative was an idea of José Jiménez Lozano
José Jiménez Lozano (13 May 1930 – 9 March 2020) was a Spanish write ...
''.
Buildings and site
![Valladolid monasterio Valbuena 09 hospederia lou](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Valladolid_monasterio_Valbuena_09_hospederia_lou.jpg)
The building complex, which was more or less complete by 1230, and most of which still stands, comprises the church, built from 1149 onwards, the conventual buildings, the guest wing, dormitories and the lay brothers' area. The groin-vaulted church of three aisles in four bays, with a barrel-vaulted transept and a crossing which was heightened in the Renaissance and covered with a cupola, is largely in accordance with the usual Cistercian building practice. The church also has an unusually large semi-circular apse, between two smaller semi-circular side apses, and also a rectangular side-chapel, built in 1165. The nave is in the early
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style. The west front has a portal with a pointed arch and several
archivolt
An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch.
It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...
s, over which is a large
oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following
Architecture
* Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...
in a blind arch.
The chapter house and the day room are also groin-vaulted, while the refectory on the south side of the complex has a pointed barrel-vaulted roof of four bays. The cloister has two storeys. The Capilla San Pedro ("St. Peter's Chapel") contains an
arcosolium
An arcosolium, plural arcosolia, is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin , "arch", and , "throne" (literally "place of state") or post-classical "sarcophagus".
Early arcosolia were carved out of the living rock ...
with a mural of a king from the period of around 1270. The lay brothers' wing was removed in the Renaissance to make room for a second courtyard. By the river stand the ruins of the abbot's house, dating from the 16th century.
The abbey was declared a national monument in 1931.
Notes
References
* Herbosa, Vicente, 2003: ''El Románico en Valladolid''. León: Ediciones Lancia.
* Karge, Henrik, 1992: ''Gotische Architektur in Kastilien und León'', in: ''Spanische Kunstgeschichte – eine Einführung'' (ed. Sylvaine Hensel and Henrik Karge), vol. 1. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
* Schomann, Heinz, 1997: ''Kunstdenkmäler der iberischen Halbinsel'', vol. 2. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (no ISBN)
External links
Arteguía: article with photos
{{Authority control
Cistercian monasteries in Spain
Churches in Castile and León
Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Valladolid
Romanesque architecture in Castile and León
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
1143 establishments in Europe
12th-century establishments in the Kingdom of León
Francoist concentration camps