I have already mentioned in many articles that Gran Canaria is a place where many church buildings are located. Among the remarkable buildings we can certainly include monasteries of various orders, which are located on the island. Let’s look at three of them today. We will begin our journey to the monasteries of Gran Canaria in the middle of the island, in the town of Teror, which is also the place where the basilica of the island’s patron, Nuestra Señora del Pino, is located.
Cistercian monastery in Teror
The beginnings of the monastery date back to 1882. The initiator of the monastery construction was the parish priest Judas Antonio Dávila. The construction itself is a consequence of church confiscation in the second half of the 19th century. For this reason, the nuns were forced to leave the building of the original monastery of San Ildefonso in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Subsequently, the nuns moved to Tenerife. During this difficult period, Bishop Pozuelo provided significant assistance to the Council. He also arranged for their return to Gran Canaria and in 1880 provided the Order with premises in the Bishop’s Palace in Terror. With the help of the inhabitants of Teror, the current monastery was built, the construction of which took place in the years 1882 – 1888. In November of the same year, the community moved to new premises.
The structure of the building is designed in accordance with the mission of the order. The Cistercian Order is a monastic order that has its origins in the reform movement in the Benedictine order. It is called contemplative order, which is governed by the regulation of St. Benedict according to the motto Ora et labora – pray and work. Choir prayer, spiritual reading and contemplative prayer have the first place in their lives. Their second activity is manual labor.
The monastery building consists of three main buildings: the church, which rises in the middle of the building; the monastery itself with a novitiate and a hospice, which is a part designed to accommodate visitors to community members and tourists.
Part of the monastery is the farm Los Castaños, which they acquire in 1917. It is used for agricultural production for subsistence members of the order. Today, the Cistercian community in Teror is known for its production of handicraft sweets.
Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Santa Brigida
The Holy Trinity Monastery is located a few minutes from the town of Santa Brigida, away from the beaches and tourist sites of the island. Due to the altitude at which it is located, it is located in an environment with plenty of vegetation. Its surroundings invite to long walks associated with the search for peace.
The monastery includes a rare library with more than 40,000 publications, not all of which are religious. The oldest ones date back to the 16th century.
Barefoot Carmelites Monastery in Telde
The Order of the Barefoot Carmelites was established in Gran Canaria in 1969. It was originally housed in a building built between 1970 and 1975. Due to the subsoil, the building had problems with statics and had to be demolished in the 1980s. The new monastery building was built in Las Medianías on land donated by the Massieu family. Thanks to the generosity of the local Catholics, the new monastery was completed in 1990.
The activities of nuns from the Order of the Barefoot Carmelites ended in Gran Canaria on September 27, 2017. The nuns moved to the monasteries on the continent and the monastery building has been abandoned since then.
The first thing that will surprise you in the monastery is the form of the chapel. In fact, there are two chapels, one for nuns and the other for people who also want to attend meetings. Both parts are connected by an altar. You will surely be surprised by the style of the monastery. Although it is a relatively new building, you feel as if you were in a very old building. The only two paintings that adorn the chapel are the paintings of the Virgen del Carmen – the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel – the patron saint of the Order and St. Teresa of Avila, the great reformer of the Carmelite Order.
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