The Monastery of Serra do Pilar is a former

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

located in

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; ), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a populati ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, on the opposite side of the

Douro River The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...

from

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. The monastery is situated on an outcrop overlooking the

Dom Luís I Bridge The Dom Luís I Bridge (), or Luís I Bridge, is a double-deck metal arch bridge that spans the river Douro between the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal. At its construction, its span was the longest of its type in the world. ...

and the historic centre of Porto. Together with these locations, the monastery was designated a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1996. The monastery is notable for its church and cloister, both of which are circular.

Site

The Monastery of Serra do Pilar is located in the parish of Santa Marinha e São Pedro da Afurada in the historic centre of

. The monastery is prominently situated high above the Doura and can be accessed by Jardim do Morro Station on the

Porto Metro The Porto Metro () is a light rail network in Porto, Portugal and a key part of the city's public transport system. Having a semi-metro alignment, it runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs while using low-fl ...

's D Line, and by the Gaia Cable Car from the riverside of Vila Nova de Gaia.

History

Construction of the first monastery at the site began in 1538 by the

Order of St. Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were following the Rule of Saint Augustin ...

. The initiative dates back to 1527 under the orders of

João III John III ( ; 6 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1521 until he died in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of ...

to serve as a larger monastic residence for monks from the , in Grijó, which had been in a state of deterioration. The original monastery was completed in 1564 and the cloisters were finished in 1583. The first monastery was quickly rendered obsolete as the facilities were too small for the number of monks in residence. In 1597, work began on the new church and the monastery was slowly updated in phases over the next several decades. The new circular church was inaugurated on July 17, 1672, and the final phases of the monastery were completed by the end of the 17th century. Serra do Pilar's military importance first became evidenced during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

when it was used by General Arthur Wellesley to launch a surprise attack on the French across the Douro, and retake Porto. The monastery's prominent location acted as the only Liberal stronghold on the south side of the Douro during the

Siege of Porto The siege of Porto is considered the period between July 1832 and August 1833 in which the troops of Pedro I of Brazil, Dom Pedro remained besieged by the forces of Miguel I of Portugal, Dom Miguel I of Portugal. The resistance of the city of ...

. The monastery was fortified over the course of the 19th century to take advantage of its strategic location. In 1910 the site was declared a National Monument of Portugal. Reconstruction of portions of the monastery that had been destroyed by successive wars began in 1927. In 1947 some of the monastery grounds were converted into a military barracks which remains on the site to this day. Since the late 20th century the monastery and grounds have been open to the public and the church continues to hold

Sunday Mass Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term ''Mass'' is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in many ...

. The monastery was included in the 1996

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site designation of Porto's historic centre.

Architecture

The Monastery of Serra do Pilar's unique design is influenced by

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

elements. The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

are both circular with identical diameters. The church in the west and the cloister in the east are separated by a rectangular

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

. The north wing of the monastery houses the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

and dormitories and the south wing houses the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

and

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...

. The -tall church is the most visible structure of the monastery, dominating the skyline on the south side of the Douro and towering over the -tall bell tower. The Church of Serra do Pilar is one of a number of

round church A round church is a church with a completely circular plan, thus a rotunda in architectural terms. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the ...

es in Western Europe.

Gallery

0 Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar planta 2.jpg, Layout showing the church (1) and cloister (5) 1 Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar Claustro IMG 7360.jpg, The circular cloister 1 Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar Cúpula da igreja IMG 7402.jpg, View inside the church's dome Iglesia Serra do Pilar, Oporto, Portugal, 2012-05-09, DD 02.JPG, The bell tower and main entrance Monastery of Serra do Pilar and Jardim do Morro.jpg, View from Jardim do Morro 0 Vista do Porto a partir da Serra do Pilar IMG 7302.jpg, View of Porto from the monastery

References

{{Authority control Christian monasteries in Portugal Vila Nova de Gaia Round churches Roman Catholic churches completed in 1672 World Heritage Sites in Portugal Former Christian monasteries Roman Catholic monasteries in Portugal National monuments in Porto District 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Portugal