Considered the largest private library in Galicia, the one in the Poio monastery houses many secrets. Some of them can be seen in the permanent exhibition set up in the convent itself, while others will be assigned to the great exhibition that, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the Order of Mercy, will be organized in September in Santiago and which is expected to also Later, it stops in Pontevedra and Poio.
The first question that arises when visiting this space refers to the number of works that these walls house. Not even the Mercedarian parents themselves have it clear. There is talk of around 120,000 books, although there are other voices that increase this figure by thirty thousand, but the truth is that a complete and exhaustive catalog is not available, so the exact number of copies is unknown.
In its funds are kept, from incunabula of great economic and cultural value, such as Comments to the Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius or an original and restored copy of the last polyglot bible that was made in Europe and which is dated in 1657 to collections more typical of a bookstore. There it is, without going any further, that of the Planeta awards.
The library has about sixteen rooms, one of which is directly linked to the order and in which you can find manuscripts from the Conxo convent. And it is that after the confiscation of Mendizábal, the order was restored in this last town, but, in 1890, they decided to move to Poio.
For many decades, this monastery was the only place in Galicia where the complete Latin Patrology could be consulted, a collection of more than two hundred volumes published by Jacques-Paul Migne in the 19th century that compiles Christian texts from antiquity, as well as medieval and , therefore, the writings of the Church Fathers in Latin. Of course, "with the particularity that we have a repeated volume," says José Anido Rodríguez.
This Mercedarium also highlights the presence of a map of Galicia signed by Domingo Fontán in 1834, which will possibly be included in the exhibition next September. In the same way, that of the Poio monastery could be considered as a library of libraries, after all it houses donations from private collections, either from other members of the order - the most obvious case is that of the Mercedarian Vicente Muñoz, a whole eminence in logic - even that of Antonio Rey Soto, priest and personal friend of Castelao.
Rey Soto donated his books to the monastery while he was still alive and the move was more like a movie. "The library was moved at night," says Anido Rodríguez. "To avoid that no one could, at any time, paralyze the transfer, the friars went with a truck and brought her." In the convent, at present, his office is reproduced.
emblematic pieces from incunabula to the smallest book in the world
The library and the office were donated while alive by this priest and intellectual
The permanent exhibition exhibits a small drawing made in a guest book
Among the most valuable copies, the last polyglot bible dating from 1657
It is one of the curiosities, since it houses dozens of editions of this literary work
The smallest printed book in the world contains the Lord's Prayer in 7 languages
The library of the Poio monastery is made up of about sixteen rooms
It is estimated that it can date from the 18th century and was used by monks in choral prayer
The painter donated his pictorial work to the monastery and part of it is exhibited
Prepared by Fontán, it is planned to be part of the Santiago exhibition
Along with the usual bookshelves, the library has noble rooms
The monastery can be considered as the seed of the Escola de Canteiros
Machourek himself was immortalized in the mosaic of the Camino de Santiago
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