Romanesque art and wines in Ribeira Sacra (Galicia)

Church of San Vicente de Pombeiro (Photo Alberto López)

 The Ribeira Sacra is a historical region located in the south of the province of Lugo and the north of the province of Ourense, well known for its importance in the world of wine making. One of the five wine appellations of Galicia, which now enjoys a growing fame, is established in this area, around the confluence of the rivers Minho and Sil. But this region is also notable for having the largest collection of Romanesque art in Galicia. In this area there are more than a hundred churches that retain its original Romanesque structure in a greater or lesser extent. All these temples were once part of medieval monasteries, now largely disappeared, whose origins date back to the early Middle Ages. Only the monastery of Santa Maria de Ferreira, in the town of Pantón, is still inhabited by a religious community of nuns of the Benedictine order.

Church of Atán (Photo Alberto López)

  

  The history of these ancient monasteries is closely related to the development of viticulture, a leading economic resource in this area during the Middle Ages. A local legend attributes to the Roman Empire the origins of wine culture in the region. But although it's often said that wines produced here were sent to Rome and served at the table of the Caesars, there is no historical or archaeological evidence of wine culture in this land in Roman times, even less that these wines were exported to the Italian peninsula. The oldest historical record about viticulture in the Ribeira Sacra is a document dated in the year 816 in the monastery of Santo Estevo de Atán, in the municipality of Pantón.

Church of Ribas de Minho (Photo Alberto López)

Another deep-rooted belief links the name of the Ribeira Sacra (which means, literally, Sacred Riverbank) with the presence of the  monasteries that existed for centuries on the banks of the Sil and Minho rivers. But according to the Galician philologist and historian Manuel Vidán Torreira, the origin of the name has a very different explanation. The oldest historical document which contains the name is the foundation charter of the monastery of Montederramo, written in the town of Allariz in August 1124, where is the phrase: in locum qui dicitur [in the place they call] Rivoira Sacrata. The Castilian Benedictine chronicler Antonio de Yepes (died in 1618), when he transcribed this document, thought that the words Rivoira Sacrata (that he mistranslated as Sacred Riverbank) referred to the banks of the river Sil. But Vidán Torreira explains that the word rivoira (or rovoyra, an alternative spelling that can be found in other documents of these times, from Latin robur) means oak tree or oak forest in Medieval Galician language. Antonio de Yepes mistakenly understood that the old document spoke of a «sacred bank» (in fact a «sacred tree» or a «sacred grove») and that mistake was repeated later by many others, originating the name that has lasted until today.

Vineyards on terraces in Sober (Photo Alberto López)

  In any case, it is true that in the region there were numerous monastic communities, some of them very powerful, like the Benedictine convent of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil (in the municipality of Nogueira de Ramuín), now transformed in a parador or luxury hotel. It is also beyond doubt that the monks promoted the cultivation of grape wines on the steep banks of the Sil and Minho rivers, constructing the spectacular landscape of vineyards planted on terraces that characterizes the Ribeira Sacra. A landscape that, in the words of the Galician writer and geographer Ramón Otero Pedrayo, was modeled in an «unconsciously artistic way». Yet so far there are no accurate historical data on the origins of this kind of viticulture in the region.

Church of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Minho (Photo A. López)

  The great benefits of the wine trade explain the abundance and the artistic and architectural richness of the Romanesque monuments of this territory, where are churches such as Santo Estevo de Ribas de Minho (in the municipality of O Saviñao) of unusual dimensions for a small country town. This is in most cases a late and very mature Romanesque style. Some of these churches show a clear influence of the artistic school emerged around Master Mateo (or Matthew), the creator of the Pórtico da Glória of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a world masterpiece of Romanesque art. Recent studies suggest that a group of former disciples of Matthew was moved to the middle reaches of the Minho River after completing the construction of the Cathedral of Santiago (around the year 1210) in order to build the monumental church of Portomarín, a small town located on the famous Way of St. James, at the northern end of the Ribeira Sacra. The stylistic imprint of this workshop can be seen in other churches that were built later in the same area.

TV / Video

The Romanesque heritage of Ribeira Sacra is featured in an episode of the documentary series Las claves del románico (Keys of the Romanesque art), produced by the Spanish public TV channel TVE-La 2. A video produced by the Provincial Council of Lugo shows some Romanesque churches in the municipality of O Saviñao (in Galician).  

Books

There are no studies nor guide books published in English about the Romanesque heritage of this region. A recent book in Spanish, Cuaderno del románico de la Ribeira Sacra, by Francisco Ruiz Aldereguía, describes numerous churches and several routes. The complex religious symbolism present in these monuments (especially in sculptures) is analyzed by the writer and historian Xosé Lois Garcia in his essays Simboloxía do románico de Pantón, Simboloxía do románico de Sober and Simboloxía do románico de Chantada (in Galician). Historian Sonia Fernández has studied the influence of Master Matthew's school in these monuments in the book San Esteban de Ribas de Miño: los talleres de filiación mateana (in Spanish). There is also information on the Romanesque churches of the area in the handbook Ribeira Sacra. Guía práctica, by Manuel Garrido (with editions in Spanish and Galician) and Orientarse pola Ribeira Sacra, a literary travel book by Gonzalo Xosé de Francisco da Rocha (in Galician).

 

Church of Bembibre, Taboada (Photo A. López)

Websites

A map edited by the Ecomuseum of Arxeriz (in the municipality of O Saviñao) shows the main points of interest of this monumental area. The webpage of the European Heritage Project features an article on the Romanesque heritage of the Ribeira Sacra (in English). The cultural association O Colado do Vento has published a brochure about the Romanesque heritage of the municipality of Sober (in Galician). Another association, Amigos do Románico da Comarca de Chantada, presents on its website a photo gallery of the Romanesque churches of the municipalities of Chantada, Taboada and Carballedo. The portal Arteguias.com has devoted a small section to this heritage (in Spanish). A calendar with pictures of churches and monasteries of the Ribeira Sacra of Ourense, edited by the association O Sorriso de Daniel, can be seen on this site. The portal Círculo Románico shows some pictures of the churches of Santo Estevo de Chouzán, San Miguel de Eiré, Santa María de Ferreira, San Paio de Diomondi, San Lourenzo de Fión, San Vicente de Pombeiro, San Xoán de Portomarín, Taboada dos Freires, San Facundo de Ribas de Minho, Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil and Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil. The public company Turgalicia offers in his website a virtual tour in the cave church of the monastery of San Pedro de Rocas (in the municipality of Esgos), one of the oldest monastic foundations in the Ribeira Sacra and in Europe (6th century).

Church of Nogueira de Minho, Chantada (Photo Alberto López)

Museums
The Ribeira Sacra Wine Centre (in the city of Monforte de Lemos) houses a permanent exhibition on the history of viticulture in the area. The Ecomuseum of Arxeriz (municipality of O Saviñao) devotes a section to the wine traditions of the Ribeira Sacra. The ethnographical municipal museum of Quiroga also shows some old artifacts of wine making.

  

Church of San Xoán da Cova (Photo Alberto López)

Tourist routes

The company Maisqueromanico offers guided tours to these monuments, with service in several languages​​. In the area there is a Wine Route that includes wineries, lodgings and other establishments.