Porta Coeli Charterhouse

The Cartuja de Porta Coeli is a functioning Carthusian monastery located in a rural site of the municipality of Serra de Porta Coeli in the province of Valencia, Spain.^[1] The name of the Charterhouse, Porta Coeli, means door to heaven.

History

The convent was erected in 1272 under the sponsorship of the Andrés Albalat, Bishop of Valencia and confessor of James I of Aragon. From this monastery came the monks to found other charterhouses of Ara Christi and Via Coeli. From this monastery emerged two prominent leaders of the order: Father Bonifacio Ferrer (1402-1410), brother of St Vincent Ferrer, and Francisco Maresme (1437-1463).

The monastery was suppressed in the 19th century, and while it tried to regain the site, the order did not return until 1943, with reconsecration in 1947. It was used as a Francoist concentration camp between 1939 and 1941.^[2] It remains the only cloister male monastery in the province.

Construction at Porta Coeli began at its founding and continued for centuries, and give the monastery the eclectic architectural contributions. The church is mainly Gothic in style, from the 14th century. In the 18th century it underwent a major baroque restructuring. Among the works in the church are paintings depicting scenes from the New Testament (18th century) by the painter José Camarón y Bononat. It has portraits of the monks Juan de Nea, Francisco de Aranda, Bonifacio Ferrer y Francisco Maresme. The ceiling was frescoed by Luis Antonio Planes. Visits to the cloisters are limited.^[3]

References

1. Cartuja, official site.
2. Nunez Diaz-Balart, The taming of bodies and minds, 1939 - 1941. The concentration camp of Porta Coeli (Valencia)]
3. Cartuja.com website, entry on Porta Coeli.

Coordinates: 39°40′56″N 0°28′24″W / 39.6822°N 0.4733°W