Monastery of San Isidro de Loriana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Monastery of San Isidro de Loriana Church |
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Monasterio de San Isidro de Loriana
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| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Province | Badajoz |
| Location | |
| Location | Mérida, Spain |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| Official name: El monasterio de San Isidro de Loriana | |
| Designated | 12 November 2013 |
| Reference no. | (R.I.) 51-000005450 |
The Monastery of San Isidro de Loriana (which is monasterio de San Isidro de Loriana in Spanish) was a special building from the 1500s. It was a monastery for Franciscan friars. A monastery is a place where monks or friars live and pray. This old building is found near Mérida, Spain, in a region called Badajoz. It is close to the Sierra de San Pedro mountains. The towns of La Roca de la Sierra and Puebla de Obando are also nearby.
The Monastery of San Isidro de Loriana was recognized as a very important historical monument. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (which means "Property of Cultural Interest") on November 12, 2013. It is a great example of how Franciscan buildings were designed.
Contents
History of the Monastery
Building the First Monastery
The Monastery of San Isidro de Loriana was first built in 1551. It was located right next to the Loriana river. A friar named Fray Alonso del Manzanete led the building project. He was from a town now called Puebla de Obando.
The monastery was built in a beautiful area. This area is known as the Loriana meadow, close to the Sierra de San Pedro mountains. The land where it was built belonged to a person named Juan Velázquez Dávila. He offered to pay for the building and upkeep of the monastery.
The first monastery was built on the site of an old chapel. This chapel was dedicated to Saint Isidore. People believed it might have once belonged to the Knights Templars, a famous group of medieval knights.
The first building was quite simple. It had a narrow shape with one main room, called a nave. This nave was split into three parts. It only had two small rooms and no cloister. A cloister is an open area, usually a courtyard, surrounded by covered walkways.
The upper part of the monastery had seven small rooms, called cells. These cells were for the friars. It also included a dining area (refectory), a kitchen, an office, and a room for church clothes (vestry).
Fray Alonso was the leader of the monastery for seven years. He later moved to other places and passed away in 1569. Important meetings for the Franciscan order were held at the San Isidro de Loriana monastery in 1557 and 1559. During one of these meetings, a famous Franciscan friar, San Pedro de Alcántara, was chosen for an important role.
Rebuilding and Improving
Because the first monastery was so close to the river, it became very damp. This caused the building to get damaged over time. So, in 1605, the monastery was rebuilt. It was moved to a safer, higher place.
New building methods were used for the second monastery. These methods showed how building styles were influenced by its closeness to the border with Portugal. Local slate stone was used, along with masonry, bricks, and cut stones (ashlar). The new building still kept the simple and humble style that was typical of the Franciscan order.
The rebuilt monastery had a small central courtyard, called a cloister. It was about 5 by 5 meters. Eight strong granite columns supported eight arches around this courtyard. This formed the lower covered walkway. The upper walkway had the same number of arches.
In the middle of the courtyard, there was a granite well. It had a square stone edge. The upper floor of the monastery was where the Franciscan friars had their bedrooms.
Inside the monastery, there was a dining area with a curved ceiling made of brick. There was also an inner courtyard and a special area for the singers in the church, called a choir. Towards the southeast, there were double doors that opened into a side passage, called an aisle.
The church itself was small and connected to the cloister. Around the cloister, there were other important rooms. These included the refectory (dining hall), the choir, the sacristy (where church items are kept), a library, corridors, and twelve cells for the friars.
Why the Monastery Was Left Behind
Life in the Loriana Meadow
The area around the Loriana monastery, called the Loriana meadow, was first settled in the 1200s. Later, in the 1500s, small villages grew up near the monastery. The monastery of Loriana was very important to the history of the Lácara region. It was a key part of the town of Loriana.
Records from nearby towns show that the Franciscan friars from Loriana were often present at important religious events and celebrations. This shows how much the monastery was a part of the local community.
Times of Trouble
Over time, the monastery became less important. It was damaged during wars like the Portuguese Restoration War and the War of the Spanish Succession. These wars happened between 1640 and the early 1700s. They affected areas near the border, like where the monastery was located. People say the monastery was a safe place for nearby towns during these difficult times.
By the mid-1700s, the area around the monastery was no longer populated. However, the Franciscan monastery was still active. It had a community of eighteen monks and three younger friars living there.
The Final Abandonment
In the 1800s, the monastery was damaged again during the Spanish War of Independence. A few years later, new laws were passed in Spain. These laws, called the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal, meant that the friars had to leave the monastery for good in 1841.
After the Franciscans left, the building became private property. Several farmhouses were built nearby. Today, the monastery is on private land, so you can't easily visit it. It is completely abandoned and was once used as a storage place or for keeping farm animals.
The building is in very poor condition and is in danger of falling apart. Because of its bad state, it was put on the Red List of Endangered Spanish Heritage Sites. This list is kept by a group called the Hispania Nostra foundation. It helps to highlight important historical places that need to be saved.
See also
In Spanish: Monasterio de San Isidro de Loriana para niños
