Galicia, the Switzerland of Spain

by Annette M. B. Meakin

We now approached the historic building, and I stood for a while before its handsome Renaissance façade, the lowest storey of which has four columns resembling giant sticks of twisted sugar-candy. The large bas-relief between the two columns on the left of the entrance represents an incident in the life of St. Bernard. The saint has laid himself down to sleep in a solitary spot, and an angel from heaven flutters above him with food in a basket, but the devil is there too, ringing a big bell so that St. Bernard may not be able to hear the voice of the angel and refresh himself with the food. The bas-relief between the columns on the right represents the birth of Christ. Joseph and Mary are there, and behind Joseph is a bull impatient to reach the manger. On some stone steps leading to the manger is the figure of a warrior in the dress of Charles II.’s day, with a deep lace collar, tight stockings, and flowing hair: this costume attests the date of the work.

The second storey of the façade has a balcony, decorated with the arms of the military orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcantara, and Montesa,[295] and on either side of these are two smaller balconies. Above the large balcony are two lions in relief, and here, too, we see the Royal Arms of Spain with a crown and eagles, also in relief. Above are various statues, the most important being those of St. Bernard and the Virgin.

The first cloister that we entered was the most modern one, it dated from the eighteenth century; here we found a very handsome stone staircase. Passing on to the second cloister, which bears the title Claustro de la Procesion, we found it to be work of the end of the seventeenth century. The southern lateral door of the church opens into this cloister; on passing through it we noted the torso of a finely carved wooden statue of St. John the Evangelist, thrown down like rubbish in a corner, when it should have been carefully preserved in a museum. We now passed through a small portico into a third cloister, the oldest of all. The roof of the portico is composed of ancient monastic tombstones covered with inscriptions; on one I read the date MCCCXXII., and another MCCCLXII. The oldest cloister, which had three storeys, is very narrow, and Gothic in style; the arcades and portico are full of bramble bushes, and at one end of it the village priest has inaugurated for himself a small trout pond filled with flowing water from the neighbouring spring. We entered a dark, windowless, cavern-like room with a wide hearth: this was where the monks stored their clothing; another room next it was used as the granary. Ascending the grand staircase, of twenty-four steps, we visited the upper rooms; one was a recreation hall, it had a round hole in the middle of the floor, through which, by means of a mirror, the monks could see all that went on in the portico below; here, without being seen themselves, they could watch the abbot receiving his royal and princely guests.

The conventual church next attracted us, and we examined its three naves, its gallery bearing the date 1675, its vaulting, and its graceful fan tracery. Its pillars throw up their groined arches like branching palms, and the whole effect of this vaulting would be very fine but for the abominable whitewash which covers all. This architecture is mostly work of the latter part of the seventeenth century. There are pointed Gothic arches on either side of the principal nave. The choir, originally above, is now in the nave; in its upper stalls is some of the wood-carving that belonged to the monastic library, whose very shelves have been carried off. Some of the finest of its wood-carving is now in one of the Madrid museums; we saw a little of it, some strips that vandalism had happened to leave on one of the doors.

The imposing churrigueresque retable (reredos) behind the chief altar is falling into melancholy decay, and offers a most depressing spectacle. It is sad, indeed, that Spain has not yet seen fit to make Osera a national monument, and that architecture, sculpture, and wood-carving of such high excellence should be left to rot and perish like things of no value.

On one side of the altar is a beautiful stone statue representing St. Catherine holding out a sword, on the tip of which is her son’s head; she had sacrificed him, the story goes, on account of his disobedience. There are a number of altars of varied interest, but the most notable one is the Virgen de la Leche, or the Virgin feeding the Child at her breast. The Child wears a long robe down to Its feet; the Virgin wears a blue tunic bordered with gold, and reaching below the knees; under it is a red skirt; on her feet are shoes. This is probably the oldest object in Osera; it is Byzantine.

The sacristy which we now enter is perhaps the most interesting part of the church; it is like a clump of whitewashed palms, whose branches meeting form its roof; like the church, it dates from the sixteenth century. The windows of the sacristy look out into the oldest cloister. We found here a table covered with a handsome monolith slab of marble, and a very valuable carved ivory figure of Christ upon a wooden cross.

Outside is a cemetery enclosed by high walls on two sides; the lower part of the wall of the church seen from the cemetery is much older than the rest: its Romanesque architecture attests its age. It is probably the only part that escaped the fire of 1551; it forms a rotunda round the presbytery.[296]

The present parish of Osera numbers some one thousand six hundred souls, counting all its scattered villages. The territory included in the monastic domain spreads over a large part of the province of Orense, and even enters that of Lugo. In its palmy days, when its rents flowed in and its cells were filled with monks, Osera must have been a little world in itself. The present monastery took a hundred years to builtd concluded in the time of the sixty-fifth abbot, whose name was Simon Rojo. There were once some beautiful fountains in the cloister patios, dating from the middle of the sixteenth century; two of these are now to be seen in the town of Orense, one in the Plaza del Hierro, and the other in the Public Gardens.

From time to time the monastery of Osera has been associated with the history of Spain. For three years it sheltered a great lady of Galicia and her entire court, Donna Juana de Castro, the unhappy wife of King Peter the Cruel, 1557-1560. We are told that Donna Juana repaid the monks for their hospitality by many rich grants and privileges.