GALICIA Information - THE
RIBEIRAS SACRAS OF MIÑO RIVER |
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The Rivers Miño and Sil have
always acted as channels from the ports to inland Galicia, to the
north, or to the central plateau. Ways, medieval roads that never
left sight of these waters which, since Roman times, were used both
for decanting minerals - especially gold - and for turning water mills,
fulling mills, blacksmith's hammers, and so on.
Not far from their banks, there used to be hermitages that made up
the "Ribeiras Sacras". St. Martin Dumiense in the 6th century,
and St. Rosendo in the 10th, acted to undertake reforms. The monastic
enclosures of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil or Montederramo were used
to gather together the scattered, solitary monks who lived in the
caves overlooking the river. Knights Templars and of the Order of
St. John of Jerusalem also set up along these roads, and were well
aware of the richness of the land. In the 12th century, the monarchs
of Galician and Lean, especially Alfonso 7th, made it possible for
Cistercian monks to start expanding considerably.
In these enclosures, they preserved classical learning, carried out
missionary work, administered and cultivated the land, vineyards,
olives, chestnuts, oaks and livestock, together with blacksmith's,
mills, fulling mills - the river was a resource. The Monasteries of
Sobrado dos Monxes, Oseira, Carboeiro, Acibeiro, Armenteira, Melon
or Oia, were solemn places, constructed around a church and its cloisters
for a mission based upon meditation and work. Enclosures with spirit,
which received the visits and the advice of holy pilgrims. Thus appeared
the art that introduced Gothic style.
All this helped art to discover new experiences: the Portico of the
Gloria, which the master-builder Mateo dated in 1138, may be considered
as an early-Gothic work, and acted as a model for the reforms on other
churches such as Ourense Cathedral or the construction of the Cathedral
of Tui. From then - the 13th century onwards, the pilgrimages to Compostela
by St. Francis of Assisi and Domingo de Guzman, led to a flourishing
of Gothic style in Mendicant constructions, some encouraged by veritable
patrons, as was the case of the Andrades, in the lands of Pontedeume
or Betanzos. We simply have to look at the Church of San Francisco
in the latter town, in As Marinas, with the superb Tomb of Fermin
Perez de Andrade "O Bo ". The Sarmiento family in Ribadavia,
the Zunigas in Monterrei, Ulloa or Moscoso. The foundation of monasteries
was encouraged in the environs of large towns: Compostela, A Coruna,
Pontevedra, Betanzos, Viveiro or Ribadavia. These churches opened
the door for Gothic sensitivity, aiming to be beacons of light and,
at the same time, pantheons for the nobility and rich merchants.
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