Historical and Religious Studies of Rome
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Abstract
Abstract
This article presents an analysis of the architecture of the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1178-1223) at the Cistercian Abbey of Alcobaça in Portugal, erected under the influence of the French Cistercian architectural tradition shaped by the spirituality and authority of St Bernard of Clairvaux. It examines the ascetic character of this architecture as an expression of Cistercian spirituality, founded upon the harmonious union of manual labour and prayer. In this context, particular attention is given to the use of rib vaulting and the bay system, together with the preserved interior of the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which remained unaltered by the Manueline style, comparing these features with corresponding architectural solutions employed in the Abbey Church of Santa Maria da Vitória at Batalha. The article interprets the symbiosis found at Alcobaça between the Baroque screen façade and the ascetic Cistercian interior as the concealment of the hidden treasure of asceticism within a decorative architectural envelope. This evokes the idea that the profound interior life of the human person constitutes a hidden value, not always discernible beneath the richness of outward appearance. At the same time, the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary is presented as a symbiosis of Cistercian architecture, Early Gothic architecture expressed through a pseudo-hall layout, and Baroque architecture, which, while forming a coherent whole, preserve their individual stylistic identities and mutually enrich one another.
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@article{Bogdan2026abbey,
title = {The abbey church of the blessed Virgin Mary at Alcobaça: portuguese heritage of cistercian architecture},
author = {Mirosław Bogdan and Jarosław Striker and Edward SYTY},
journal = {BUILDER},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.5604/01.3001.0055.9071},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0055.9071}
}FAQ
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