Convent of San Domingos de Bonaval

Last updated
Convent of San Domingos de Bonaval
Santiago-21ago-12-bonaval.jpg
Main facade of the convent (right) and the Museum of the Galician people (left)
Religion
Patron Saint Dominic
StatusMuseum and pantheon
Location
Location Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
Architecture
Style Gothic, Baroque, Neoclassical

The Convent of St Dominic (Galician: Convento de San Domingos de Bonaval; Castilian: Santo Domingo de Bonaval) is a former Dominican monastery in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.

Contents

The complex includes architecture in various styles including work by the Galician Baroque architect Domingo de Andrade. It was declared a national monument in 1912.

Situation

It is located in Santiago de Compostela, but outside the old walled city on the slopes of Mount Almáciga, near the place known as Porta do Camiño, which was one of the gates by which pilgrims entered the city.

History

The convent was founded by St. Dominic de Guzman (who went on pilgrimage to Santiago in 1219) in the early thirteenth century. The oldest document which cites the convent, with the original name of Santa Maria, dates back to 1228. From the fifteenth century, it appears with the title of Santo Domingo, and under the patronage of the house of Altamira.

In 1695 starts the reconstruction of the convent, apparently due to the precarious situation of the building. Domingo de Andrade was in charge of the works under the patronage of Archbishop Antonio de Monroy. Thus, the current image of the convent is largely the result of the reforms ordered by this archbishop of Compostela, who held office between 1685 and 1715.

Like many Spanish monasteries, it was closed in the nineteenth century as part of the Ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal.

Description

Church

The church, built in Gothic and Renaissance style, is not currently open for worship. It houses the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians and is a concert venue. [1] It was built according to the canons of Gothic naves Dominican with light and airy, with the focus of services moved from the apse towards the pulpit located in the crossing. In this temple were buried the noble families of Moscoso and Castro, through the authorization of Pope Innocent IV, who gave the Dominican Order permission to bury lay people in their convents. The temple is completely covered with vaults.

Imagery

The altarpiece was built from 1687 by Domingo de Andrade in the parish church of Santiago de Carril, and after being mounted in its final position was not maintained the original structure. The base is clearly Renaissance, with overlapping bodies. The sculpture was commissioned toward 1689 by sculptor Stephen of Cendón, related to the style of Matthew de Prado . Represent San Francisco, San Augustine, San Benito, San Ignacio, San Pedro de Nolasco and Santo Domingo. Today's sculptures are scattered convent idle different places.

Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians

Tomb of the Galician poet Rosalia de Castro. Tumba de Rosalia.jpg
Tomb of the Galician poet Rosalia de Castro.

The monastery church in a side chapel houses the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians, in Galician Panteón de Galegos Ilustres, where the remains of several key Galician cultural and political personalities such as writers: Rosalia de Castro, Alfredo Brañas, Ramón Cabanillas, the intellectual and cartographer Domingo Fontan, the sculptor Francisco Asorey, The last person buried in this mausoleum is the politician, writer and artist Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao, and considered the father of modern Galician identity, resting there since 1984.

The main facade

It is chaired by the coat of the Counts of Altamira with royal crown, patron of the convent, and in it are references to the work of the Art and Architecture of use Fray Lorenzo de San Nicolás . It is of small proportions, divided into three parts, horizontally and vertically. The cover consists of two beams Tuscan pilasters decorated with typical fruit Andrade's work, supporting a curved pediment framing the door lintel party, chaired by the image of Santo Domingo. On both sides of the rectangular openings open door. On the lintels, in brackets, you can still read clearly an inscription commemorating Archbishop Monroy's commissioning of the work. [lower-alpha 1]

The triple helical staircase

Staircase Escaleira tripla de caracol (Compostela).jpg
Staircase

Inside the convent stands the extraordinary triple helical staircase of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the work also the architect Domingo de Andrade. It consists of three separate coils. Professor Rios Miramontes related it to that found in the Castle of Chambord, in France. In the same space extend three separate ramps that lead to different rooms, only one of them comes to the viewpoint. The rungs of the ladder are made of a whole piece, set in an outer rib fit without joining the wall or each other. It was restored by Xosé Cerviño Garcia, Master Cerviño.

The tower

Also by Domingo de Andrade, under the patronage of Monroy, structured essentially following the work of the same architect in the Clock Tower in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, performing in the early eighteenth century.

Current Situation

The Museo do Pobo Galego and an urban park are within its facilities, and is beside the CGAC ( Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea , the Galicia Contemporary Art Centre).

Notes

  1. Esa portada i quarto que le sigue mando hacer el ylustrissimo sr don frai Antonio de Monroi arzobispo i señor de esta ciudad i genera de esta sagrada religión con las himagines i dorado año de 1699.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago de Compostela</span> Municipality in Galicia, Spain

Santiago de Compostela or Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th century. In 1985, the city's Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao</span> Galician politician, writer, painter, and doctor

Alfonso Daniel Manuel Rodríguez Castelao, commonly known as Castelao, was a Galician politician, writer, painter and doctor. He is one of the fathers of Galician nationalism, promoting Galician identity and culture, and was one of the main names behind the cultural movement Xeración Nós. He was also one of the founders and president of the Galicianist Party and had a great influence on the renovating group of Galician art known as Os renovadores. Castelao is considered to be the most important figure in Galician culture of the 20th century.

The Xunta de Galicia is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President(s) and the specialized ministers (Conselleiros).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago de Compostela Cathedral</span> Catholic cathedral in Galicia, Spain

The Santiago de Compostela Arch cathedral Basilica is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The cathedral is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. It is also among the remaining churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle, the other ones being St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, St Thomas Cathedral Basilica in Chennai, India and Basilica of St. John in Izmir, Turkey.

The Compostela Group of Universities (CGU) is an international non-profit association that promotes and executes collaboration projects between institutions of higher education. It currently has 67 full members, 2 associate members and 9 mutual membership agreements with institutions from 27 different countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Santiago de Compostela</span> University in Spain

The University of Santiago de Compostela - USC is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. It is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alonso III Fonseca</span> Galician politician and archbishop

Alonso III Fonseca was a Galician archbishop and politician. He was archbishop of Santiago de Compostela from 1507, and archbishop of Toledo from 1523. He was a major supporter of the University of Santiago de Compostela. He was the son of the archbishop Alonso II Fonseca and Alonso II's concubine María de Ulloa.

Monasteries in Spain have a rich artistic and cultural tradition, and serve as testament to Spain's religious history and political-military history, from the Visigothic Period to the Middle Ages. The monasteries played an important role in the recruitment conducted by Christian aristocracy during and after the progress of the Reconquista, with the consequent decline in the Muslim south of the peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domingo de Andrade</span> Galician baroque architect

Domingo Antonio de Andrade was a Galician baroque architect, a leading figure in the emergence of Galician Baroque architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruins of San Domingos</span> Former church and convent in Pontevedra, Spain

The ruins of San Domingos was a convent located in Pontevedra, Galicia (Spain). It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas</span>

Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas is a Galician farmers' and breeders' union centered on family farms and small peasants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Romanesque</span>

Spanish Romanesque designates the Romanesque art developed in the Hispanic-Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula in the 11th and 12th centuries. Its stylistic features are essentially common to the European Romanesque although it developed particular characteristics in the different regions of the peninsula. There is no Romanesque art in the southern half of the peninsula because it remained under Muslim rule (Al-Andalus). The examples of Romanesque buildings in the central area of the peninsula are sparse and of the latest period, with virtually no presence south of the Ebro and the Tagus. Most Romanesque buildings can be found in the northern third of the peninsula. Romanesque art was introduced into the peninsula from east to west, so scholars have usually defined regional characteristics accordingly: the "eastern kingdoms" comprising the Pyrenean areas, Catalan Romanesque, Aragonese Romanesque and Navarrese Romanesque, and the "western kingdoms" comprising Castilian-Leonese Romanesque, Asturian Romanesque, Galician Romanesque and Portuguese Romanesque.

Bernal(do) de Bonaval(le), also known as Bernardo (de) Bonaval, was a 13th-century troubadour in the Kingdom of Galicia who wrote in the Galician-Portuguese language.

Bonaval may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antón Fraguas</span> Galicianist historian, ethnographer, anthropologist and geographer

Antonio Fraguas Fraguas was Galicianist historian, ethnographer, anthropologist, and geographer. In 1923, he cofounded the Sociedade da Lingua, whose main goals were the defense of the Galician language and the creation of a dictionary. He was a member of Irmandades da Fala and Seminario de Estudos Galegos and was high school professor after the Spanish Civil War broke out. He was part of the Father Sarmiento Institute for Galician Studies and the Royal Galician Academy, and was director and president of the Museum of the Galician People, member of the Council of Galician Culture, and a chronicler of Galicia. He spent his life studying Galician culture and its territory from different perspectives, with a special focus and mastery on anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontevedra Museum</span> Museum in Pontevedra, Spain

The Pontevedra Museum is a museum in the Galician city of Pontevedra in Spain. It was founded by the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra on 30 December 1927 and has six buildings for its exhibitions. It has permanent and temporary exhibition rooms. The museum's collections are multidisciplinary, classified into rooms for painting, sculpture, archaeology, decorative arts, engraving and ethnography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convent and church of Saint Francis, Pontevedra</span> Gothic church in Pontevedra, Spain

The Convent of St. Francis is a Franciscan convent located in the city centre of Pontevedra (Spain), overlooking the Plaza de la Herrería. The Gothic church of San Francis is attached to the convent on the southeast side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea</span> Contemporary art museum in Galicia, Spain

The Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, CGAC is an arts centre based in Santiago de Compostela that aims to promote culture in Galicia through exhibition, enjoyment and knowledge of the trends and currents of contemporary artistic creation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Os renovadores</span> 1920s group of artists who wanted to renew the visual Galician arts

Os Renovadores or Os Novos was a group of artists who wanted to renew the visual Galician arts from the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quintana Square</span> Square in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Quintana Square is the main square of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. It is formed by the meeting of the south facade of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, Casa da Parra, Monastery of Saint Pelagius of Antealtares and Casa da Conga.

References

  1. Gardiner, John Eliot (2006). "Cantatas for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity / Santo Domingo de Bonaval, Santiago de Compostela" (PDF). Bach-Cantatas. Retrieved 12 September 2015.