Camino Frances - 2014
Samos Monastery
| Community life at Samos goes back to the 6th century, and the rebuilding of the monastery is recorded in the 7th centuy. The monastery, the Royal Abbey of SS Julian and Basilissa, has traditionally been an important stopping point of the Camino Frances between O Cebreiro and Sarria. Built in coursed slate with quarried stone only being used for the doorways, window frames, parapets and corbelled balconies in addition to the main facade. The complex is made up of two cloisters laid out in different directions and of different sizes, joined together and flanked by angular towers. The result is a continuity of the rustic outer wall which contrasts with the elegance of the stone cloisters. The comples is completed by the magnificent abbitial church built into the northwest wall of the great cloister. |
Key
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1 |
Porter's Lodge |
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2 |
Church (18th century) |
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3 |
Original place of choir |
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4 |
Sacristy (18th-19th centuries) |
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5 |
Statio or Signum |
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6 |
Chapter House (oratory) |
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7 |
Forge |
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8 |
Workshop |
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9 |
Fruit Store |
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10 |
Stewards' Room |
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11 |
Remains of old Romanesque church (12th - 13th centuries) |
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12 |
Father Feijoo's Cloister |
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13 |
Old cellars |
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14 |
Kitchen |
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15 |
Refectory (17th century) |
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16 |
Library |
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17 |
Gothic Cloister, or Cloister of the Nereids (16th and 18th centuries) |
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18 |
Laundry |
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19 |
Apothocary's store |
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20 |
Old kitchen (17th - 18th centuries) |
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21 |
Church front |
| After I had had a coffee I wandered around to the Monastery to have a look. It was 10-15 a.m., and the next tour was not until 11 a.m. I decided not to wait, but instead walked around the back of the Monastery to have a look at the albergue. Then I thought, well, I may not be here again, so I really ought to wait and do the tour. So I went back to the entrance and talked to Father Lorenzo for a while before the tour began. It was definitely the right decision. The Monastery was fantastic. |
| The Royal Abbey of SS Julian and Basilissa has been a major landmark on the Camino Frances between O Cebreiro and Sarria for over a thousand years. Architecturally the complex is made up of two cloisters laid out in different directions and of different sizes joined together by and flanked by angular towers. The outer walls portray a rustic simplicity, whereas the interior is one of elegant cloisters. |
The front of the Church
Father Lorenzo
North walk of the great cloister (18th century)
The Church (18th century)
The large cloister or Father Feijoo's cloister
Father Feijoo's statue
Statue of Father Feijoo sculpted by Francisco Asorey
"St Scholastica's Miracle" by Enrique Navarro (1963)
"Apotheosis of the Rule" by Enrique Navarro (1963)
The Sacristy
The sacristy dome underlies the central ground plan
The Church
"DOCTOR RVPERTVS" spandrel in the church transept
The dome
More "Fire and Damnation"
The walk of the old cloister
Fountain of the Nymphs or of the Nereids (16th - 18th Centuries)in the Old Cloister
"Arrival in Rome" by Jose Luis Rodriguez (1960)
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