Category: Religious Architecture > Church
District: Viseu > Tabuaço > Távora e Pereiro > São Pedro das Águias
The Church of São Pedro das Águias is situated in a unique landscape, isolated and nestled halfway up a slope in the area of São Pedro das Águias, part of the locality of Távora e Pereiro, in the municipality of Tabuaço. Its positioning, adapted to the terrain's slope and on a terrace of rock outcrops, offers a natural setting of great interest. To the west, it is sheltered by an imposing rocky massif, while to the east, it opens onto the Távora River ravine, providing a view of serenity and natural beauty.
This building, classified as a Public Interest Property, is what remains of an ancient and small Cistercian male monastery, presumed to have initially been a hermitage. Its history dates back to around 991, when knights and hermits are believed to have founded the community. In the 12th century, with its transition to the Cistercian Order, the church acquired its current Romanesque form. After the extinction of religious orders in the 19th century, the monastery was abandoned and suffered a period of ruin, but was, however, subject to a complete restoration in the mid-20th century, which restored its original dignity.
Constructed from exposed granite ashlar, the Church of São Pedro das Águias features a rectangular plan with a single nave and an equally rectangular chancel, with articulated volumes. The interior, with wooden beamed ceilings and granite slab flooring, receives scarce but atmospheric light through narrow, glass-protected slits. Its placement on the terrain resulted in a difference in level between the chancel and the nave, a remarkable architectural solution for its time.
One of the most striking aspects of the church is the profuse and symbolic decoration of its portals. The main facade, facing west, features a round-arched portal with multiple archivolts. In these, phytomorphic motifs can be observed, such as palmettes and stylized acanthus, and zoomorphic motifs, such as confronted animals. The capitals crowning the columns reveal a variety of figures, including anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and vegetal motifs. Two lions, with their heads turned outwards and wide-open eyes, a medieval symbol of vigilance, support the tympanum, decorated with an enigmatic "Croix Nouée" (knotted cross) amidst serpentine interlace.
The left side portal, on the north facade, is equally remarkable. Its two archivolts feature geometric motifs and acanthus leaves, with wolf heads biting the torus. The tympanum of this portal is adorned with an Agnus Dei crucifer (Lamb of God with cross), set against a background of geometric patterns. It is also here that an inscription is found, carved into the keystone of the arch, quoting a verse from Psalm 121: "The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore," a testament to the faith and history inscribed in the stone itself.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 41.08680625,-7.52022395
Coordinates DMS: 41°05'12.5"N 07°31'12.8"W
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