Oia : first studies about the discovered abbot’s tombstone

Oia : the abbot's tombstone

The piece was discovered by chance in an old barn near of the abbey. The experts identified the abbot staff, typical of the iconography of the Cistercian abbeys. Now, we have got the first analysis of the tombstone from the portuguese historian Ana Paula Leite, published in the IEV (Institute of Studies of Vigo) Newsletter nº18. It is impossible to discern the entire date but the historian supposes that the piece pertains to the 13th century.She had turned to the historic documents of the National Archive sited in Madrid to try to solve this issue. In the stone we can read : E M CCC X V XIº IULII OBIT XIII ABBS. That means that the abbot passed away in july and he was the 13th of the monastery. According to an old document of the National Archive the 13th abbot was Friar Lorenzo who died on the 11th of July 1277, so the historian Rodrigues thinks that he could be the owner of this tombstone. The Association of Friends of the Monastery of OIA (ACAMO) demand the piece to be recuperated and preserved in the church of the abbey.