ANNUAL PICNIC AND VISIT TO THE MONASTERY OF SANTA

ANNUAL PICNIC AND VISIT TO THE MONASTERY OF SANTA MARIA DE CÓS
31st July 2015.
Early on a rather overcast July morning, sixteen members of the Lisbon branch of the British
Historical Society of Portugal boarded a small bus in Estoril and drove some 150 kms north, via
the A-8 motorway, to Exit Nº 22, where we turned off towards Alcobaça and then followed the
signs to Maiorga and Cós. Here we met up with our guide, Manuela, and members of the
Caldas da Rainha branch of the BHSP for a morning visit to the now partly restored convent
buildings of SANTA MARIA DE CÓS, which the Society last visited in April 1994.
Our morning ended with a shared picnic lunch on a
nearby hilltop, close to the little pilgrimage chapel of
Santa Rita de Cassia, with its sweeping views over the
highlands of Estremadura.
Situated some 14 kms from Alcobaça and 4 kms. from Maiorga (a place which is thought to
have once had a navigable harbour, visited by Greeks and Phoenicians), the Monastery of Santa
Maria de Cós was initially a secular establishment instituted as a shelter for widows and other
worthy lay women long before Portugal became an independent nation under D.Afonso
Henriques. With the passage of time Cós became a house for women religious and this convent
was certainly in existence by 1241, date of the first written reference to the nuns of Cós.
It is known that the Monastery, which was located within the lands belonging to the Cistercians,
was an economic dependency of Alcobaça. The Portuguese monarchs always took a special
interest in Cós and down the centuries the monastery was granted many privileges. Its
splendid buildings with their magnificent ornamentations were another manifestation of this
royal patronage.
In 1834, by government decree, all convents,
monasteries, hospices and houses of religious
orders were closed down; the houses of
women religious were kept open, under the
control of the local bishop, until the death of
the last nun, upon which they were closed.
This was the case of the Monastery of Santa
Maria de Cós.
In recent years restoration work has been
carried out and although, sadly, the monastery
does not have guided visits or regular visiting
hours it is possible for private individuals to
see the interior of the great church and the
sacristy by calling the Junta da Freguesia, in
advance, on 262 544 155.
Apart from the great church, with its strikingly
austere exterior, little is left today of the old
Convent of Santa Maria de Cós.
Present-day visitors enter through a small side
door and find themselves in the centre of the
church, with the nave and choir to their left
and the choir screen (a recent replacement
built in wood rather than gilded metal) and
choir to their right.
One of the most noteworthy works in the
church is the carved and gilded altarpiece for
the high altar carried out by the well known
Lisbon wood carver Domingos Lopes. The
contract for this work, dated 9th March 1676,
is still in existence.
In the choir a fine Manueline doorway may well be a
remnant of works carried out in the 16th century
under the orders of João de Castilho, architect of the
Lisbon Monastery of Jerónimos.
The splendidly inlaid choir stalls date from
the late 17th/early 18th century.
Among the highlights of the building are the
coffered ceilings of the nave, choir, sacristy and
vestibule which were carried out around 1715.
The 80 ceiling panels are painted to show
allusions to the life of the Virgin Mary, and
allegorical symbols relating to the Cistercian
Order.
The walls of the small but richly
decorated sacristy are hung with tile
panels illustrating the life of St.
Bernard, usually known as the
founder of the Cistercians. These are
attributed to Teotónio dos Santos
and are based on Antonio Tempesti’s
Vita
et
Miracula
D.Bernardi
Clarevalensis Abbatis published ih
Rome in 1587. A small label beside
one of the panel indicates that it
shows “The King of England
submitting to the Pope.“ Presumably
this was Henry II, whose less
honourable deeds included the
instigation of the murder of Thomas à Becket.
Another, perhaps somewhat tenuous, link between Cós and England is that the third Prior of
the Cistercian Order, back at the beginning of the 12th century, was an Englishman, Stephen
Harding, born at Sherborne, Dorset. After studying at Sherborne Abbey he became a travelling
scholar and eventually reached Burgundy, where he joined the Benedictines. Later he left for
the new abbey at Cîteaux, where he worked with St. Bernard of Clairvaux and later served as
prior for twenty-five years.
While no single person is considered the founder of the Cistercians, the shape of Cistercian
thought, and its rapid growth in the 12th century, was arguably due to Harding’s leadership.
Insisting on simplicity in all aspects of monastic life, he was largely responsible for the severity
of early Cistercian architecture. He finally resigned as head of the order, because of age and
infirmity in 1133 and died a year later. He is buried in the cloister at Cîteaux.
In addition to the widely acknowledged beauty of their architecture, the Cistercians also
became famous in fields such as agriculture, hydraulic engineering and metallurgy and were the
main force of technological diffusion in medieval Europe, as witnessed by the highly
sophisticated water systems installed at Alcobaça.
The famous Portuguese baroque painter Josefa de Óbidos was active in the area of Alcobaça at
the end of the 17th century and it is known that she produced several works for Cós, though
these have since been dispersed.
Photographs by Jacqueline Sousa Guedes.