Category: Religious Architecture > Monastery
District: Vila Real > Montalegre > Pitões das Júnias
The Monastery of Santa Maria das Júnias is situated in an isolated and picturesque valley, about two kilometers from the village of Pitões das Júnias, in the municipality of Montalegre. This location, set amidst a grand and difficult-to-access mountain landscape, was chosen for its tranquility and remoteness from the world, characteristics that are still palpable today. The natural surroundings, marked by the nearby stream and the surrounding boulders, give the ensemble an atmosphere of peace and profound connection to nature.
The history of this monastery dates back to an ancient hermitage, founded in the 9th century, whose vestiges are still a subject of study. Its isolated implantation reflects the ideals of an initial community dedicated to pastoralism and a life of asceticism and humility. The structure we glimpse today, one of the most significant examples of Trás-os-Montes Romanesque architecture, began to be erected in the first half of the 12th century, even before the foundation of Portugal, welcoming monks of the Order of Saint Benedict. Later, in the mid-13th century, the monastery adopted the rule of the Cistercian Order, gaining expression and property in the Barroso region and in Galicia.
Over the centuries, the Monastery of Santa Maria das Júnias was the scene of expansion and restoration works, such as the construction of the cloister and the reformulation of the chancel. However, vicissitudes like floods and a devastating fire in the 19th century led much of the conventual dependencies to ruin. Despite the damage, the church remained, and the site was classified as a National Monument in 1950, benefiting since then from recovery interventions that help preserve its memory.
Of what remains of the Monastery, the church is the best-preserved structure, featuring a single nave and a rectangular chancel. Its main facade, in Romanesque style, exhibits a beautiful portal with a perfect round arch. This portal stands out for its unique ornamentation: an outer archivolt adorned with lancets and a frieze with geometric motifs. The tympanum, in turn, presents a lintel with stylized flowers and, above, an openwork Maltese Cross, flanked by circular perforations arranged in a triangle, suggesting a "starry sky" symbolism that perhaps served as a guide for pilgrims passing through here.
Inside the church, ornamented friezes run along the nave walls. The triumphal arch, with its two archivolts, is flanked by carved altarpieces, while in the chancel there is an elaborately composed main altarpiece. In a lateral window of the chancel, facing north, there is a curious recumbent statue of a monk, which popular tradition interprets as marking the maximum level reached by the river's floods over the centuries.
The ruins of the conventual dependencies extend south of the church, revealing what was once a vibrant monastic complex. Although much is collapsed, one can still glimpse the foundations of the monks' dormitory and the kitchen area, with its notable pyramidal chimney, which remains one of the most iconic elements of the ruins. Part of the old Romanesque cloister also survives, with three of its arches and respective capitals still visible, revealing details of phytomorphic decoration.
Upon entering the monastic space, above the door, it is possible to observe a rectangular stone with the symbol of Oseira Abbey (two bears flanking a tree), marking the historical connection to the Galician monastery. In the dependencies annexed to the kitchen, there is an ancient sarcophagus that was ingeniously and functionally repurposed for water collection, a testament to the adaptability and humility of monastic life. The complex conveys a powerful sense of history and the importance of community life that flourished here throughout time. This site is also the venue for an annual pilgrimage on August 15th, which continues to attract people from Pitões and neighboring villages, keeping alive the spiritual connection with the monastery.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 41.831152,-7.942537
Coordinates DMS: 41°49'52.1"N 07°56'33.1"W
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