Multidisciplinary Approach to the Portuguese Cistercian Monasteries Architecture: Research and Knowledge

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a debate on the multidisciplinary research achievements and knowledge concerning the Cistercian architectonic legacy in Portugal, connecting Architecture, Civil Engineering, Heritage, and History. Consequently, this paper brings to debate the rehabilitation and morphology of the Cistercian Monasteries layout in Portugal, as well as the research on the Cistercian legacy conducted mainly at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the University of Beira Interior connected to two research centers: Lab2PT (Landscape, Heritage and Territory Laboratory) and CIDEHUS (Interdisciplinary Centre for History, Culture and Societies). The originality of this research is the multidisciplinary study and the results achieved in the research of the Cistercian legacy in Portugal as a system: the former monasteries and its architecture are the main subject concerning morphology, architectonic rehabilitation but also acoustics, thermal comfort, or natural light. Finally, the research methodology and results will be presented in the study case of the Monastery of S. Bento de Cástris and the work carried out for the FCT EXPL/EPH-PAT/2253/2013 Project also known as ORFEUS Project – The Tridentine Reform and music in the cloistral silence: The Monastery of S. Bento de Cástris – which was financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) with community co-financing through the COMPETE program of QREN and the European Union (FEDER).