The monastery

    The church, whose main façade presides over the Sant Bernat square, corresponds to the XII century and is formed by a doorway of average point and an impressive gothic large window.

   The façade is crowned by battlements.

   The floor is of Latin cross, with three abbatial ships and five chapels. In the outer side of the presbytery, a magnificent rosette can be observed. The greater altar is a Josep Tremulles baroque altarpiece and, close to it we way find the Pere Gran, Jaume II and Blanca d'Anjou mausoleums, an emblematic work of Catalan gothic.

   The hexagonal laboratory pavilion of the Romanesque cloister is conserved, but was replaced with the previous cloister of gothic style with a direct access to the Sant Jaume Just. It was constructed by Jaume II in 1313. It impresses by its proportions and specially for profuse decoration of the capitals, with a wide and extensive selection of medieval iconography.

   The bedroom has a ladder entrance that goes to the previous cloister which is a great room with underpinned arch's. It is also a suitable place for the summer concerts of classical music. The stairs that leave from the bedroom communicate with the dome and the Torre de les Hores (Hours Tower).

   The lobbying room is located at the left side of the access ladder to the bedroom. It is a squared floor and its turns are sustained by four columns of Romanesque style lines. We may find different monastery's abbot tombs on the ground.

   The next cloister, of squared floor and with pointed transition arch's, was installed at the XVII century.

   At the south wing of the monastery we shall find the kitchen rooms, the refectory of rectangular floor from the XVII century, and the Palau Reial (Royal Palace). The Palau Reial was built by Pere el Gran in 1280 and dedicated since 1520 to the Palau Abacial (Abacus Palace), until the abbot was moved to the Sant Bernat Square. We should emphasize the staircase, the gallery and the courtyard with a central puo, as well as the crafts of multichromed wood.

   The Trinitat Chapel is a Romanesque construction and was the first monastic church, formed by one ship witch is located at the East outside of this cloister.

   The wine cellar with pointed arcs and the office with the turn holder up by two columns like a palm tree stand out. Nowadays these rooms take part of the audiovisual montage of the Cister World.

Original: L'ALT CAMP (Consell Comarcal de l'Alt Camp) Year: 2000 - English translation: Teresa Paladella

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