It is the oldest monastic complex in Galicia and the only one where part of its original structure is preserved, artificial caves carved out of the rock that served as a chapel and head to a medieval church. A unique example of a cave church excavated under Mount Barbeirón .
The monastic complex of San Pedro de Rocas is considered since 1923 as Historic Monument National and in 1999 was declared of cultural interest in the catalog of monuments of historical heritage of Spain . In 2018, it was declared, along with 100 hectares that surround it, a Cultural Landscape Heritage Site. The complex is one of the most important cave complexes on the Iberian Peninsula. Nowadays, already closed to worship, it is one of the main tourist attractions of the Ribeira Sacra and in the monasteries it houses a museum and an interpretation center of monastic life in the Ribeira Sacra.
The origin of San Pedro de Rocas is something that nobody knows 573 , the year in which according to an inscription found on a tombstone in the monastery church (this tombstone is kept in the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ourense ), where five inhabitants of the same (Eufrasio, Eusanio, Quinedio, Eatio and Flavio) received some type of inheritance. He is linked to the evangelizer Martín de Braga (also known as Martín de Dumio or Martín Dumiense) in Swabian times .
At the beginning of the 8th century it was abandoned due to the attacks it suffered by the Muslims. In a document dated in the year 1007 , where the privileges granted by King Alfonso V of León , it is related that in the 9th century a knight named Gemodus on a hunt found the ruins of a monastery, or the excavated chapels and he and his companions stayed to live there as religious. This story is believed to be a legend.
The origin of the monastery, like that of most of the Ribeira Sacra monasteries, is hermitic associated with the beginning of Christianity in Galician lands. The step from praying alone (hermit life) to praying in community (cenobitic life) is evident in this place. Even with the monastic life established, there is evidence of hermitage in the surroundings of San Pedro de Rocas until the 15th century .
Alfonso III of Asturias , the Great , implants the Benedictine rule and endows the then monastery with large donations that his successors, Alfonso V in 1007, Alfonso VII, Fernando IV and Enrique III confirm and increase.
In the 11th century a fire destroyed a large part of the monastery, which was rebuilt with the help of Abbot Aloito and the community of Celanova. Since the year 1199 the monastery of San Pedro de Rocas has become the most important priory of the monastery of San Salvador de Celanova , although it seems that it joined this monastery definitively in the 15th century. Previously it depended on the monastery of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil .
Another fire consumed the monastic complex again in 1640 . The reconstruction that is carried out then gives the current aspect of the monastery that became a rectory once it was abandoned by the monks.
After the confiscation of Mendizábal in 1836 it became a parish that had to be closed at the beginning of the 20th century due to the numerous landslides that occurred and because it was again consumed by flames. It is given to the " City of the Boys of Bemposta " who give it back some life. In 1923 it was listed as an asset of cultural interest and means were put in place for its conservation.
The monastic complex is made up of the building of the rectory, current headquarters of the interpretation center, the church and an old 19th century cemetery no longer in service. Next to the outbuilding is the church, a true jewel of this complex, and after passing under a natural pass over which the bell gable rises, you access a small space that leads to the cemetery.
Rectoral house
The parsonage dates from the 17th century and is a sober rectangular building made of granite ashlar masonry (with the stones of the old monastery) with balconies with iron bars that are supported by typical Baroque corbels in two of its corners. In the 20th century, renovations were carried out where some windows and the access door were added.
Graves.
Between the parsonage and the church there are eight anthropomorphic rock-cut tombs. The orientation of these tombs is southwest west, except for one of them that is oriented south north. One of the graves is engraved with a cross and all of them have a recess to fit the tombstone. It is believed that the cloister of the old monastery where the monks carried out their burials was located in this place.
Church
The church, dating from the 12th century, has its three naves and the chancel carved out of the rock. The naves are actually chapels separated by arches (the one on the right differs from the other two and may have been added later) that rest on columns whose shafts and capitals have been carved directly into the rock. The central nave is wider and longer than the lateral ones. On its floor there are five tombs, one of them anthropomorphic in shape. In the ceiling there is a vent through which light and air enter, as if it were a false dome with a lantern. The ceiling of all the chapels simulates being a half-barrel vault.
The head of the naves is formed by semicircle apses. In the center the altar is preserved and next to it is a reproduction of a Romanesque Christ. Niches in a semicircular arch adorn various points of the chapels. It is known that the chapel on the right was dedicated to Saint Anthony the Abbot.
At the entrance of the ships, embedded in the rock are two tombs, which a legend assigns to Gondamáriz and that of Oveco Seixas, who died fighting against King Bermudo II . This wall is completed by three consecration crosses.
In the chapel on the left there is a 12th century fresco (it is dated between 1175 and 1200 ) in which the apostles appear on a world map. This is the only known Romanesque representation of a world map. In this chapel it is estimated that the knight Gemondus, the refounder of the convent, had his tomb.
In the 15th century, a new rectangular nave was built that enlarges the three naves, leaving the stone wall where they open as an interior wall. On the floor of this new enclosure there are a multitude of graves from different periods. In the 16th century, the vault was reinforced with an arch. In 1936 an upper floor made of wood was destroyed in a fire.
Bell tower
The bell tower is made up of a two-hole belfry that stands on a 14-meter-high natural stone arch. This, together with the wall where the naves excavated in the rock open, are the most unique images of the monastic complex.
The bell tower was built by Gonzalo de Penalva in the 15th century. Behind the stone arch, some stairs allow access to the belfry with no bells (they led to the church of Quinta del Monte ).
Old cemetery
After the church, and crossing the arch where the bell tower is located, you access the site of the old parish cemetery on the right, which was enabled in the 19th century, of which only a set of six already open niches remain. The dependencies of the old medieval monastic complex were based on this site. Next to the entrance of the cemetery begins a road, where the place was accessed in the past, which leads to the so-called "Fuente de San Bieito" or San Benito, which according to popular saying its waters heal warts.
The legends
The source of San Bieito does not arise from a spring but from the collection of water on the slope by a natural formation. But throughout the territory that the monastery occupies, you can see channels dug into the rock that collect water and even run between the graves. This has led to the belief that there was some kind of water cult.
The waters of the San Bieito spring have the property of curing warts, for this you have to put the affected area and pray an Our Father .
Another legend indicates the existence of a tunnel that is obstructed by a golden beam and that whoever tries to appropriate it ends up turned into tar.
It is said that in this monastery sinful women were punished with the "pinga", this is by dropping a drop of water very slowly and constantly until they went crazy and died.
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