Architecture of Portugal - Pre-Romanesque

Pre-Romanesque

Roman domination in Hispania was ended with the invasions by Germanic peoples (especially Sueves and Visigoths) starting in the 5th century AD. Very few buildings survive from the period of Visigoth domination (c.580-770), most of them modified in subsequent centuries. One of these is the small Saint Frutuoso Chapel, near Braga, which was part of a Visigothic monastery built in the 7th century. The building has a Greek cross floorplan with rectangular arms and a central cupola; both the cupola and the arms of the chapel are decorated with arch reliefs. The chapel shows clear influences of Byzantine buildings like the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna.

After 711, in the period of dominance of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors, the Christian Kingdom of Asturias (c.711-910), located in the Northern part of the peninsula, was a centre of resistance (see Reconquista). In addition, many Christians (Mozarabs) lived in Moorish territories and were allowed to practicise their religion and build churches. Asturian architecture and Mozarabic art influenced Christian buildings in the future Portuguese territory, as seen on the few structures that have survived from this time. The most important of these is the Church of São Pedro de Lourosa, located near Oliveira do Hospital, which bears an inscription that gives 912 as the year of its construction. The church is a basilica with three aisles separated by horseshoe arches, a narthex on the façade and mullioned, horseshoe-shaped windows of Asturian influence on the central aisle.

Other preromanesque churches built under Asturian and Mozarabic influence are São Pedro de Balsemão, near Lamego, with a basilica floorplan, and the Chapel of São Gião, near Nazaré, although some authors consider that these buildings may be of Visigoth origin. The inner spaces of these buildings are all divided by typical horseshoe arches. The Visigothic Saint Frutuoso Chapel was also modified in the 10th century, when the arm chapels were given a round flooplan and horseshoe arches.