page_title: Portuguese Romanesque architecture
section_title: Churches and monasteries
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Romanesque architecture / Churches and monasteries
caption_attribution_description: pt:Igreja de São Martinho de Mouros
context_page_description: The Romanesque style of architecture was introduced in Portugal between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. In general, Portuguese cathedrals have a heavy, fortress-like appearance, with crenellations and few decorative elements apart from portals and windows. Portuguese Romanesque cathedrals were later extensively modified, among others the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, although it only had some minor changes.
  Chronological and geographical distribution of Romanesque buildings in Portugal are intimately connected with the territorial organization emerging from the Reconquista, being the fundamental reason for the differences between a locally influenced artistical phenomenon in the North of the country and a more "international" kind in buildings like Coimbra and Lisbon cathedrals. Romanesque architecture first developed in Minho and Douro regions spreading later southwards to Coimbra. It is in the rural areas of the northwest and center regions that Romanesque buildings are more concentrated, being more dense in the margins of rivers Douro and Mondego.
context_section_description: As previously stated, Romanesque architecture style reached Portugal by the end of the 11th century by the hand of Cluniac, Cistercian and Augustinian orders, bringing with them the monastical reforms that were already underway in their countries of origin. Their influence and importance on the spreading of this new art form can be asserted by the large number of churches and monasteries, one of the kind of Romanesque buildings that survived until our days.
  The introduction of this new style coincides with the advance of the Reconquista to the south and the development of recent Portuguese independence and its territorial changes, reflecting this war paradigm and the need for defense profoundly engraved in the specific kind of Romanesque art we can find in Portugal: thick and menacing crenelated walls, towers, use of battlements, merlons, narrow slits and decorative austerity, like the church of Travanca Monastery with its heavy tower, the Monastery of Cete, the Church of Airães, São Martinho de Mouros, Paço de Sousa Monastery and the Monastery of Rates, one of the most artistically diverse. Almost every religious building has a fortress-like design because in the absence of castles, churches were always considered the best fortresses.
  Therefore, it is not surprising that monastical buildings comprise most of the Romanesque kind, specially in the northern areas of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, Tâmega and Sousa valleys and along the Douro river margins. With a significant rural population dispersed within these regions and organized in villages or concelhos we also find a significant number of parish churches, like São Gens de Boelhe, São Vicente de Sousa, São Pedro de Ferreira or Santa Maria de Cárquere Being very simple and small constructions, it is astonishing how each of them have such an iconographic variety of decorative features, being another unique "indigenous" characteristic of Portuguese Romanesque.
  Portuguese Romanesque churches have a longitudinal structure, following the basilical plan common throughout Europe: three aisles, transept and apse with two apsidoles, either semi-circular or square shaped, or just with one single aisle and apse. With semi-circular apse and apsidoles we have the churches of Ganfei, Rates, Pombeiro, São Tiago of Coimbra and Castro de Avelãs. The churches of São Cristóvão de Rio Mau and Santa Eulália de Arnoso, among others, present a square-shape apse and apsidoles.
caption: Church of São Martinho de Mouros with its heavy and fortified structure.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:07:23 09:40:01", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6132", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5953", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:07:23 09:40:01", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:07:23 09:40:01", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "261023/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "108853/16384", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "22", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3888", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5766", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}