XE3F7822 - Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos - Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey (Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos, España)

El Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos es una abadía benedictina ubicada en la parte oriental de un pequeño valle, que el primer documento del Archivo de Silos, del año 954, ya lo denomina valle de Tapadillo perteneciente al municipio de Santo Domingo de Silos, en la provincia de Burgos, comunidad autónoma de Castilla y León, España. Se halla comunicado por tres carreteras secundarias que desembocan, por Aranda de Duero y por Lerma, con la nacional A-1, y por Hacinas, con la N-234. Su claustro es una de las obras maestras del románico español.
El monasterio, aunque no en su actual configuración, se remonta a la época visigótica (siglo VII), si bien se desvanece durante la ocupación musulmana. En el siglo X, llamado aún San Sebastián de Silos, y en especial durante el periodo en que el conde Fernán González gobierna en Castilla (930-970), vuelve a resurgir la comunidad monástica alcanzando un pujante actividad que nuevamente decae bajo las razias de Almanzor. Desaparecido este en 1002 y recobrada la serenidad, el monasterio se encuentra arruinado y maltrecho. Cuando en 1041 Domingo, prior del monasterio de San Millán de la Cogolla, se refugia en Castilla huyendo del rey de Navarra, es bien recibido por el monarca leonés Fernando I que le confía la misión de restablecer el antiguo esplendor y dar nuevo auge al monasterio de Silos puesto bajo la advocación de San Sebastián. Con el decidido impulso de Santo Domingo como abad del cenobio se erigió la iglesia románica, magnífico templo de tres naves y cinco ábsides consagrado en 1088 por el abad Fortunio, el claustro que aún perdura, y el resto de las dependencias monacales. A la muerte del santo, el monasterio toma su patrocinio y pasa a denominarse Santo Domingo de Silos.
Hacia 1170, la dama de origen noble Juana de Aza, que estaba encinta, peregrina a Silos en busca de dirección espiritual. Su hijo, Domingo de Guzmán será bautizado así en honor del santo patrono de la abadía.
El claustro de Silos es de doble planta, siendo la inferior la más antigua y la de mayor mérito. Forma un cuadrilátero de lados ligeramente desiguales, de los que el menor mide 30 m y el mayor 33,12 m. Los lados norte y sur constan de 16 arcos, mientras que los lados este y oeste de sólo 14. Como las parejas de lados opuestos no son de igual dimensión a pesar de tener el mismo número de arcos, las luces de éstos tampoco son idénticas, variando entre 1,00 y 1,15 m. Los arcos son de medio punto y descansan sobre capiteles que, a su vez, lo hacen sobre columnas de doble fuste monolítico de 1,15 m de longitud; sólo los soportes centrales de cada galería están formados por fustes quíntuples, salvo uno de ellos, el del lado norte, que es cuádruple y torsado. Toda la arquería va montada sobre un podio corrido con una abertura para acceder al jardín interior.
El claustro inferior debió levantarse entre la segunda mitad del siglo XI y primera del XII, mientras que el claustro superior se construyó en los últimos años de ese mismo siglo. En el inferior se perciben claramente dos fases de ejecución: durante la primera, que corresponde a las últimas décadas del siglo XI, se llevaron a cabo las galerías norte y este; la segunda se desarrolló en el siguiente siglo y en ella se ejecutaron las galerías sur y oeste. Cada fase refleja una forma de hacer y un estilo diferentes atribuibles a dos maestros distintos que emplearon sus propios talleres. Como rasgos diferenciadores, los fustes de las columnas de la primera etapa están más separados y presentan mayor éntasis, y las tallas son de poco relieve y escaso movimiento. Las figuras del segundo taller son más realistas y poseen mayor volumen.
En el plano artístico lo más destacable es la colección de los 64 capiteles de que consta el claustro bajo y los relieves que ornamentan las caras interiores de las cuatro pilastras que forman los ángulos de la galería.
Los capiteles, y en especial los del segundo artista, son obras maestras de la iconografía románica y es lo que más se admira y llama la atención de todo el claustro. Sus temas son muy variados: desde los que representan escenas bíblicas o evangélicas, hasta los figurativos de animales quiméricos, grifos, leones, arpías, centauros, aves fabulosas y toda clase de elementos vegetales.
Son de destacar también la Puerta de las Vírgenes, que comunica el claustro con la iglesia y que constituye un vestigio del primitivo templo románico, y la fachada de la desaparecida sala capitular que se abría a la galería oriental, así como el artesonado mudéjar ricamente decorado con cerca de 700 figuras y escenas de la Castilla de los siglos XIV y XV.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasterio_de_Santo_Domingo_de_Silos
www.abadiadesilos.es

Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey (Spanish: Abadía del Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Santo Domingo de Silos in the southern part of Burgos Province in northern Spain. The monastery is named after the eleventh-century saint Dominic of Silos.
The monastery dates back to the Visigothic period of the 7th century. In the 10th century, the abbey was called San Sebastián de Silos, but acquired its current name when Dominic of Silos was entrusted to renovate the abbey by Fernando the Great, King of Castile and León. Dominic had been prior of the Monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla before being driven out with two of his fellow monks by King García Sánchez III of Navarre, for opposing the king's intention to annex the monastery's lands.
The two-storey cloister of the monastery, which has large capitals with carved scenes, and also relief panels, is considered a masterpiece of Romanesque art, and has been written about extensively, notably by Meyer Schapiro in his Romanesque Art (1977). The capitals in the lower cloister are decorated with dragons, centaurs, lattices, and mermaids. There is also an important Romanesque free-standing enthroned Madonna and Child. The cloisters are the only surviving part of the monastery that hasn't changed since its inception. The cloister is an angled rectangular shape with 16 semi-circular arches on the north and south sides and 14 semi-circular arches on the west and east sides. The lower storey was begun during the last quarter of the 11th century and completed in the second half of the 12th century. The lower storey's date derives from an epitaph of the eponymous Santo Domingo, who died in 1073, which is located on the abacus of a group of four capitals in the north gallery. The cloister was dedicated on September 29, 1088. Additionally, the upper story of the cloister, which was placed upon the wooden vaulting of the first story, was completed during the 12th century.
Abbot Domingo's successor, Abbot Fortunius was in charge of the construction of the north gallery and the original west gallery. After completion of two of the galleries and the beginning stages of construction of a third gallery, Fortunius was forced to halt construction on the cloister due to the influx of pilgrims coming to visit Abbot Domingo's shrine. Additionally, construction on the cloister was halted for several decades because of political and economic difficulties during the period of 1109 to 1120. As a result of this interruption, it is clear that the west and south galleries are of a different style than the east and north galleries, which seem to indicate that a second, different workshop was hired after the intermission in construction to finish the work on the cloister.
The organization of the cloister consists of four squared-off piers at each corner and paired columns running along each of the arcades. The arcades are mounted atop a podium that extends along each side of the cloister. Each of the sides of the cloister has a grouping of four columns located at the center of the arcade. The six-foot-tall piers have medium-relief sculptural biblical scenes of the Post-Passion which are the Three Marys Discovering Jesus Christ is Gone, the Pentecost, the Doubting Thomas, and the Road to Emmaus. Originally, these religious scenes were painted in bright colors. These pier carvings are dated to the middle of the twelfth century and are the work of the sculptor of the lower story capitals. The carved panels are thought to be the work of the same craftsman who worked on the Abbey of St. Pierre de Moissac in France.
The southeast corner's pier relief depicts the Ascension and the Pentecost. The northeast corner's pier relief depicts the Entombment and the Descent from the Cross. The northwest corner's pier relief depicts the disciples of Emmaus. The southwest corner's pier reliefs depict the Annunciation to Mary and the Tree of Jesse.
The paired columns along each side of the cloister each share a capital. Each capital's decoration is unique, and they contain a variety of animals, foliage or an abstract design. Due to the later date of their creation, the capitals on the second story of the cloister depict narrative scenes. All of the east gallery's capitals and most of the capitals in the north gallery were carved by the same sculptural workshop. The east gallery was the first to be finished, and it was followed by the completion of the north gallery. After the intermission of construction on the cloister, work was resumed in 1158. The south gallery was completed soon after, and the newly reconstructed west gallery was the last side of the cloister to be finished. Before the west gallery was completed, plans were made to construct the second story of the cloister. It is believed that the lower story's sculptural style is of better quality than that of the upper story.
The monks of Silos became internationally famous for singing Gregorian chant as a result of the remarkable success of their 1994 album Chant, one of a number of recordings they have made. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 music chart, and was certified as triple platinum, becoming the best-selling album of Gregorian chant ever released. It was followed by Chant Noël: Chants for the Holiday Season (also released in 1994) and Chant II (1995). Technically, the Silos monks are surpassed by other choirs, but they are undoubtedly authentic in the sense that they sing Gregorian chant as part of their daily worship. As a reviewer in Gramophone puts it: "The ensemble is not always perfect, but if these are not professional singers, they are, and they sound like, truly professional monks."
Along with Ensemble Organum, the monks of Silos are also one of the few choirs to have recorded Mozarabic chant, for example on a 1970 album for German early music/baroque label Archiv Produktion.
The cloisters and pharmacy are open to the public. Visitors are also able to attend services such as vespers in the abbey church. Access to the library is restricted to researchers.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_Santo_Domingo_de_Silos
www.abadiadesilos.es

Taken on: July 11, 2019

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