Veruela, Abbey of
VERUELA, ABBEY OF
Cistercian monastery in Saragossa province, Spain. It was suppressed in 1835, but since 1877 Jesuits have restored many of the buildings. Pedro de Atarés, who is buried in the church, in 1146 gave French monks from Scala Dei the site and surrounding land in return for perpetual prayers. The Romanesque church, consecrated in 1248, resembles clairvaux in having a main altar and five chapels, ambulatory, three naves, and transept. Abbots and the Dukes of Villahermosa are buried there. The late 13th-century Gothic cloister is decorated with designs of leaves, serpents, lions, and other animals, real and imaginary. The first 20 abbots are buried in the large severe chapter hall, noted for its Romanesque doorway. The monk A. J. Rodríguez (d. 1777), an advocate of the experimental method in the sciences, wrote treatises on respiration and hypodermics and a Palestra críticomédica.
Bibliography: j. m. lÓpez landa, Estudio arquitectónico del monasterio de Veruela (Lérida 1918). j. pÉrez de urbel, Las grandes abadías benedictinas (Madrid 1928). r. del arco, El monasterio de Santa María de Veruela (Zaragoza 1923). Enciclopedia universal illustrada Europeo-Americana, 70 v. (Barcelona 1908–30; suppl. 1934–) 68:145–156.
[j. pÉrez de urbel]