Barcelos - Mosteiro de Vilar de Frades

Mosteiro de Vilar de Frades (aka Mosteiro de São Salvador) is located east of Barcelos. A convent may have existed here already in the second half of the 6th century. After the Reconquista the monastery was refounded and rebuilt here and in 1059 Benedictine monks lived here. During the reign of Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211) a Romanesque church was erected of which some parts still exist.

Around 1400 the monastery was given up, but revitalized from 1425 by Mestre João Vicente. The monastery got enlarged and existed upto 1834. Today the buildings house a home for disabled people and sheltered workshops.

The portal of the Romanesque church is now "integrated" into the church´s facade. The portal was taken down and rebuilt in the early 19th century. So this may not the original state.

There are three archivolts with some interesting (and enigmatic) carvings. This is the central stone of the outer archivolt. Five very stoic looking gentlemen, sitting on snakes. Are they fighting the snakes? Or are they demonstrating that snakes cannot harm them?