Water planning in Alcobaça cistercian lands

Abstract

This paper concerns the main domain (coutos) of the Cistercian Abbey of Alcobaça (central Portugal), founded in 1153. It shows the involvement of the monks in shaping hydraulic landscapes along time. This monastic territory is limited westwards by the Atlantic ocean with a cliff coast indented by two large gulfs, the former Pederneira and Alfeizerão lagoons, sanded up presently. These landscapes have been consolidated along with the monks’ intervention in the hydrographic plan, particularly through a network of canals, the types of which can be summarized as follows: canals for water conveyance and evacuation, to and from the abbey buildings; canals related with water-powered engines as grain-, oil-, saw- and fulling-mills, forges and other industrial devices; canals consequent to the diversion of rivers and streams with two main purposes: to drain the fields in order to improve the marshes for agricultural use, and to irrigate cultures.