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Photograph: Two Photographs: One of the pousada's main public spaces is this courtyard (left), which is planted with orange trees. The church, still in use, peeks over the former monastery's walls. The monastery's kitchen became a dining room, and its massive, pyramidal chimney turned into a skylight (below).
PHOTOGRAPHY: Copyright DUCCIO MALAGAMBA
Project: Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro, Braga, Portugal
Owner: ENATUR (Portuguese National Tourism Corporation)
Architect: Souto Moura Arquitectos--Eduardo Souto de Moura, architect; Marie Clement, Ana Fortuna, Manuela Lara, Pedro Valente, design team
Engineers: G.O.P. (structural, electrical); Gesto Engergia Termica (thermal energy management)
Contractor: Soares da Costa
Cost: $8.5 million
The Pousadas of Portugal, a chain of state-owned luxury hotels, are one country's answer to an enviable but difficult problem: what to do with a surplus of obsolete medieval castles, Renaissance palaces, Baroque monasteries, and disused convents. Since 1942, 22 such historic properties have been transformed into small, full-service hotels. (There are another 21 pousadas in modern structures.) Small, usually with fewer than 30 rooms, they are scattered across the country, often in remote rural settings and national parks. The pousadas also host weddings, banquets, business retreats, and other events. While not highly profitable in themselves, they form a prestigious support network for culturally based tourism, and help maintain a priceless architectural patrimony.
The Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro, the latest addition to the chain, occupies an imposing Cistercian monastery in the tiny village of Bouro--a handful of houses above the lush banks of the Cavado River. Originally founded in 1162, the monastery has been rebuilt several times; the present structure dates to the 18th century and is attached to a church that is still in use. Today, the Pousada de Santa Maria serves visitors to the ancient northern city of Braga, 10 miles to the west, a religious center famed for its historic churches and its Easter Week processions.
Monks' cells as guest rooms
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