- Joined
- Mar 8, 2018
- Messages
- 459
- Reactions
- 467
The foundation of the Cistercian monasteries was carried out in remote places, far from the madding crowd and in places that invite meditation and prayer.
All this is reflected in the Bonaval Monastery, today in a state of ruin, located in the leafy valley of the Jarama River, at the entrance to the Sierra Negra del Ocejón and 3 km from the village of Retiendas.
Its foundation dates back to the middle of the 12th century, probably in 1164, by monks from Valbuena, promoted by Alfonso VIII, but the present church, or what remains of it, should not have been started before well into the 13th century. Later, in the seventeenth century, he underwent severe reforms. In 1821 the monks left the monastery moving to Toledo, passing into private hands that did nothing to preserve the building.
The whole remains part of the church, mainly the head, cruiser and nave, plus a sacristy attached to the apse of the Gospel (possible Romanesque chapel used temporarily for religious rites before the construction of the final building) and other walls of what They must have been the rest of the monastic dependencies. Externally, the best preserved part is the head and the south arm of the cruise.
