Location: Oseira
Tel. 988 28 20 04
Open: Apr- Sep 10am-
noon Mon- Sat
3:30pm- 6:30pm daily
Oct- Mar: 10am- noon Mon-
Sat
3:30pm- 5:30pm daily
www.mosterodeoseira.org
The Monastery of Santa María la Real de Osera is a Trappist monastery, of the Cistercian Order, of royal foundation that throughout its history had great economic and social importance in the region and more distant lands.
It is a monastery that after 8 centuries of history is preserved in very good condition. Located in the parish of Osera, in the municipality of San Cristóbal de Cea, province of Orense, 34 km away from Orense capital, very close to the place where the provinces of Orense, Pontevedra and Lugo meet.
Ursaria was the name by which the current Osera River was known,
whose meaning is country or land of bears (ursus in Latin). An animal
that possibly populated the valley in ancient times. Hence the presence
of this mammal on the monastery's coat of arms. Another interpretation
is that the toponym Ursaria alluded to the abrupt place where the
monastery is located, in a high valley. of the Sierra de Martiñá. Idea
originally stated by Brother Tomás de Peralta in the 17th century: "The
site is a mountain, whose inaccessible slopes and steep cliffs cause
horror to those who look at them."
Due to its size, the monastery
was also known as "El Escorial de los Bernardos" or "El Escorial de
Galicia".
Its existence has been known since 1137, when the monastery was
born and was integrated into the Cistercian Order in 1141, depending
on Clairvaux. A group of French monks sent by Saint Bernard settled
in Osera. The modest initial buildings were expanded thanks to
donations and acquisitions from the monastic community.
In
the last decades of the 12th century and the first decades of the
13th century, the great monastic temple was built, designed for a
large community of monks. The temple is one of the largest of the
Cistercian order in Spain. Among the first monks of Osera was Saint
Famiano, the first canonized member of the Cistercians, a German
pilgrim who embraced monastic life in 1142, dying in 1150 in Galesse
(Italy), of whose city he is the patron. His body is found incorrupt
in the Basilica of San Famiano de Galesse.
Among its abbots
was Dom Lorenzo (1205-1223), promoted to the see of Clairvaux, the
only Spaniard to hold the highest position in the order; Dom
Fernando Pérez (1223-1232), who was dean of Santiago and Major
Chancellor of the kingdom at the court of Alfonso IX of León; Don
Fernando Yáñez restored monastic life in the abbey of Alcobaça, in
Portugal, after the elimination of the previous community by the
Arabs in 1195; After his return to Osera, he was elected abbot
(1232-1240); Dom Suero de Oca (1485-1512), nobleman who, having been
widowed for the second time, became a monk of Osera. During his
mandate, the validation of the bull granted by Pope Eugene IV was
obtained so that the monastery could recover all of his property. He
was archbishop of the titular diocese of Tarsus. In the 16th
century, in 1513, the commendatory abbots arrived, strangers to the
abbey who almost put an end to it. That period ended in 1545 due to
the intervention of the Congregation of Castile when everything was
rebuilt except for the temple and the chapter house. The great fire
in 1552 reduced all the buildings to ashes, except the temple. The
construction of a new abbey in Valladolid and the transfer of the
monks were planned, but the abbot of Osera, Fray Marcos del Barrio,
born in Magaz (Palencia), Castile, managed to have the monastery
rebuilt in the same place as always. . The reconstruction work of
Barrios does not agree with the opinion of some native historians
who allege an alleged invasion of the Galician monasteries by
Castilian monks. In the second half of the 16th century, the monks
of Osera often helped with food and funds both to sustain wars and
to feed the needy in times of famine, to the point that Philip II,
aware of all this, sent a laudatory letter. to the abbot of Osera.
There were other illustrious names of abbots and monks who held
important positions in the universities and who were at the head of
the Congregation of Castile.
The territories under the
government of the Osera Monastery included the mountains and their
outcrops of the Sierra de Martiñá, Peña de Francia, Osera Valleys in
Carballedo de Chantada, the towns of Cea (where the abbot of the
monastery was count), and Carballino, the preserve of Santa Cruz de
Arrabaldo, banks of the Miño and the town of Marín, in the
Pontevedra estuary. The town and port of Marín were part of the
oldest and most lucrative possessions of the monastery. The
authority of the monastery exercised commendable social justice in
Marín, promoted fishing among its inhabitants and defended the
entrance to the Pontevedra estuary by building a fort. Thanks to the
organized fishing fleet, the region and the monastery itself were
supplied.
The monastery was rebuilt between the 16th and 17th
centuries.
The great losses and destruction that the
Napoleonic invasion caused to all of Spain and, therefore, to the
monasteries, did not affect Osera, although it did affect some of
the priories that suffered looting. The hidden location of the
monastery and the difficulty of access in those times saved it. Many
monks dispersed from their homes took refuge in the monastery, in
addition to the general of the Congregation of Castile and the
bishop of Salamanca, Fray Gerardo Vázquez, who was a Cistercian
monk.
However, during the constitutional period of 1820-1823,
the monks were expelled and the monastery was totally assaulted and
looted by the mob. After the liberal triennium, the monks returned
in 1823 to find a dismantled mansion, without doors, windows and
furniture. Reconstruction began in 1824. At that time, Father
Jerónimo Usera was admitted to the congregation, who would become
the founder of the congregation of the Sisters of the Love of God.
In 1836, as a result of the confiscation of Mendizábal (1835),
all monks were expelled from the monasteries, with an express
prohibition on being able to meet again as a corporation. This also
meant that the Cistercian order disappeared forever from the
Congregation of Castile.
The monastery remained abandoned for
almost a century, with the buildings reaching the brink of ruin. Don
Florencio Cerviño González, bishop of Ourense (1922-1941), made the
decision to restore the monastery and recover monastic life. The new
community barely had resources and only in 1966 did restoration work
begin under the direction of the monks themselves. The Orense
Provincial Council, an important collaborating entity, awarded the
Gold Medal to the monks in 1990. In 1990, the grand restoration also
received the Europa Nostra Award, from Queen Sofia.
The abbey church was built between approximately 1200 and 1239 and is
considered one of the masterpieces of Cistercian architecture in the
Iberian Peninsula, with a characteristic pointed Romanesque style; It is
clearly influenced by the pilgrimage churches.
The chapter house
of the monastery, popularly known as the "palm room", dates from the end
of the 15th century and is supported by four central columns of torso
shafts ending in an original vault.
In the old monastic refectory
you can visit the Lapidarium or Museo da Pedra, a collection of objects
and stone fragments obtained during restorations and archaeological
excavations: tombstones, capitals, columns, decorative elements, etc.