Vallbona de les Monges monastery, cloister.
ROYAL MONASTERY OF SANTA MARIA VALLBONA The monastery's history begins in 1153 when the hermit Ramon de Vallbona gathered are a mixed community of hermits. The 1176 men having gone to the Montsant nuns coming from Tulebras (Navarra) joined the community and joins the Order of Cistercians. The Cistercian order was under the Rule of St. Benedict rejected everything that was superfluous. He was born in the eleventh century as a monastic reform that went against the rich, argued for prayer, work, meditation and welcoming pilgrims. With the figure of Bernard of Clairvaux this order spread throughout Europe and came to Poblet, Santes Creus and Vallbona. The monastic life throughout its 800 years of existence has never been interrupted, except in time of war. Currently living in the monastery 14 monks who follow the rules of discipline and coexistence provisions of the Rule of Saint Benedict. The monastery church is Romanesque to Gothic transition. They emphasize two towers; is a dome lamp and the other bell. On each side of the presbytery there is a sarcophagus. One is the tomb of Violante of Hungary, second wife of King James I the Conqueror and the other of his daughter, Princess Sancha of Aragon. The cloister, begun in the twelfth century, shows the different architectural styles in each of the wings. The fourteenth century chapter house is a meeting place for the community. The presiding image of the Virgin of Mercy, which is polychrome terracotta. At the beginning of the nave is the beautiful image of the Virgin Mary Heart of polychrome stone and work of William Seguer dating from the fourteenth century. The chapel of the Virgin Mary Cloister which preserves the image of Santa Maria, which dates from the twelfth century and was restored in the fourteenth century. The square was the place destined for the cemetery and later the nuns were buried under the cloister. On the wall of the church is attached various sarcophagi.
Size: 3504px × 2336px
Location: Carrer Major; Vallbona de les Monges; Urgell; Lleida; Catalonia; Spain.
Photo credit: © Jordi Sans Galitó / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: catalonia, chapel, church, cister, de, del, gothic, les, lleida, maria, monastery, monastic, monges, monk, romanesque, route, ruta, santa, spain, tourism, travel, urgell, vallbona
