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The Romanesque style of architecture was introduced in Portugal between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. In general, Portuguese cathedrals have a heavy, fortress-like appearance, with crenellations and few decorative elements apart from portals and windows. Portuguese Romanesque cathedrals were later extensively modified, among others the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, although it only had some minor changes. Chronological and geographical distribution of Romanesque buildings in Portugal are intimately connected with the territorial organization emerging from the Reconquista, being the fundamental reason for the differences between a locally influenced artistical phenomenon in the North of the country and a more "international" kind in buildings like Coimbra and Lisbon Cathedrals. Romanesque architecture first developed in Minho and Douro regions (with Braga Cathedral being its reference) spreading later southwards to Coimbra. It is in the rural areas of the northwest and center regions that Romanesque buildings are more concentrated, being more dense in the margins of rivers Douro and Mondego. It was in areas that had been recently added to Portuguese territory, thus more open to foreign influence, places where royal and ecclesiastical sponsorship were stronger, where French monastical communities settled in and foreign artists produced their works (like Coimbra and Lisbon), that we find the most artistically complete forms of Romanesque. As it expanded it became more local, mixing with earlier regional construction techniques and solutions. Romanesque building construction activity gained pace after 1095, when Count Henry took possession of the County of Portugal. Count Henry came with noblemen and Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Cluny, which was headed by Henry's brother, Hugh. The Benedictines and other religious orders ended up giving great impulse to Romanesque architecture in Portugal during the whole 12th century. Examples of those rural monastical and parish churches, most of them built in the 9th and 10th centuries with late High Middle Ages artistical features and before the expansion of Romanesque architecture are the Monastery of Rates, one of the best iconographical buildings of this style in Portugal. The church of Paço de Sousa Monastery, Santa Maria de Airães and the Monastery of São Pedro de Ferreira, among others. Their communities first followed the Benedictine rule but were later deeply influenced by the monastical reforms of the 11th century, mainly the Cluniac, reflected in the adoption of newly Romanesque architectural features, creating a very regional and rich decorative and architectural solutions. ==Pre-Romanesque architecture: The Mozarabic art== Mozarabic art refers not only to the artistic style of Mozarabs (from musta'rab meaning "Arabized"), Iberian Christians living in Al-Andalus that adopted some Arab customs without converting to Islam, preserving their religion and some ecclesiastical and judicial autonomy, but also to those same communities that migrated north to the Christian Kingdoms, bringing with them an architectural phenomenon in which Christian and Islamic artistic elements are fused together. Although Mozarabic communities maintained some of the Visigothic churches that were older than the Islamic occupation for the practice of their religious rites, the extent of that Visigothic artistical heritage is hard to pinpoint, as most monuments from that previous period have been lost. Nevertheless, those buildings that did survive seem to hold on tenaciously to traditions of Visigothic architecture with few, if any, Islamic features, which comprises them in the ample concept of Pre-Romanesque architecture. Besides this possible Visigothic connection, Mozarabic architecture in Portugal also came in contact with Asturian art, identified with the artistic creations that were being produced during the 9th century specifically in the territories that comprised the Kingdom of Asturias. However this artistic activity, in general (and architecture especially) was not limited to this area or this century, it encompassed all the northern peninsula and had continuity during the next century. The most exceptional example of Mozarabic architecture in Portugal is the Church of São Pedro de Lourosa, near Coimbra. There is no doubt the date of foundation of this rural church was somewhere around 912 AD (950 by the Era of Caesar, corresponds to 912 by Christian Era) according to an autentic inscription found in one of the transept arms. Despite a number of Asturian references to the church's engravings, the influences of the architectural models favoured by the Mozarabs are clearly visible in the modulation of the masonry and mainly in the decorative elements of the cornices (use of the Alfiz) and the design of horseshoe arches, typical of Mozarabic style. Its basilican type structure comprises a small transept separating the chancel from the main body of the building (called a Narthex), and a row of three surmounted arches supported on columns separates the central nave from the side aisles. During restoration works carried out in mid-20th century, various architectural features were found that would have belonged to another earlier Visigothic church. Other examples of Mozarabic monuments in Portuguese territory are the Chapel of São Pedro de Balsemão in Lamego, the Cathedral of Idanha-a-Velha, with a more Visigothic influence but still used by the Mozarabic community of the region, the Church of São Gião, near Nazaré, and the unique apse of the old monastery of Castro de Avelãs (Bragança), that presents not only a Mozarabic flavour but also a deep fusion with Asturian-Leonese architectural features. Most scholars had identified its construction from the late 12th and early 13th centuries, although new archeological findings have challenged that date and put its origin back in the 11th century. File:PM_33015_P_Lourosa.jpg|Facade with narthex of São Pedro de Lourosa Church. File:PM_33311_P_Lourosa.jpg|Mozarabic style horseshoe arches in São Pedro de Lourosa Church. File:P8083194w_(7859316944).jpg|Horseshoe arch and alfiz in São Pedro de Balsemão Chapel (Lamego). File:Capela_de_São_Pedro_de_Balsemão%2C_Lamego_(16976586385).jpg|Corinthian-kind capitels from the Visigothic period in São Pedro de Balsemão Chapel. File:Idanha-Catedral.JPG|Originally from the Visigothic period, it has some minor Mozarabic (and later Romanesque and Gothic) features (Idanha-a-Velha). File:Sao_Giao3.JPG|Mozarabic vegetalist motifs in the Church of São Gião. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Portuguese Romanesque architecture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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