page_title: Arouca Abbey
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Arouca Abbey / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: Português: Cadeiral do Mosteiro de Arouca
context_page_description: The Abbey of St. Batholomew, more simply known as the Abbey of Arouca, was a Cistercian monastery of women dating from the 10th century. It is located in Arouca, now in the Porto metropolitan area of Portugal. For much of its existence, it was one of the most influential religious centers in that region of the country.
context_section_description: Isolated near the entrance to the city, and located at regional crossroads, the abbey overlooks a valley encircled by the Serra da Freita, the Serra Mó and the Serra de Gamarão.
  It is a rectangular plan comprising a principal structure oriented north to south, with annexes on the smaller wings, all covered in tiled roof. The smaller wings (in the north and south) shelter the church and cellars (to the north) and the group of buildings around the cloister and two longitudinal patios (in the south), from north to south, the Pátio do Norte and Pátio dos Comuns, respectively. Around these patios are the former monastic cells. The western wing is limited by two towers/lookouts, three-stories high (four on the towers), rhythmically designed with rectangular vanes with frames of stonework and marked by a system of colossal pilasters at the corners. The pilasters are place on high entablatures and decorative pinnacles at the angles, marked by the church, divided into stonework sections. The lateral portico is implanted in the middle of the navem with a double stonework frame, Tuscan pillars with pyramidal pinnacles and semi-circular decoration. The annexes facades are covered in rectangular windows covered in grade.
caption: The detailed wood choir stalls
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