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The founding of the monastery of Oseira

San Cristovo de Cea, Carballiño, Ourense

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The founding of the monastery of Oseira

Historical milestone · San Cristovo de Cea, Carballiño, Ourense

Image of San Cristovo de Cea, not of the place itself.

The Benedictine community settled in the valley of Oseira, in the present-day concello of San Cristovo de Cea (Ourense), was constituted in 1137, and four years later, in 1141, it joined the Cistercian order with the arrival of a colony of French monks sent by Saint Bernard. Because of its great size it is known as "the Escorial of Galicia", and its abbey church, built between 1200 and 1239, is considered one of the foremost works of Cistercian art in the Peninsula. A fire in 1552 destroyed much of the original Romanesque and Gothic fabric, and the disentailment of Mendizábal forced the monks to abandon it in 1835, leaving it exposed to looting; they did not return until 1929, this time as a Trappist community. Today it maintains a guesthouse and produces pastries, chocolates and liqueurs.

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Photo: Elisardojm (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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