Vow of silence

The nuns at the Sao Pedro Monastery in the Portuguese town of Arouca all took a vow of silence. Today you can see what their lives would have been like.

Written by Michael Turtle

Michael Turtle is the founder of Time Travel Turtle. A journalist for more than 20 years, he's been travelling the world since 2011.

Michael Turtle is the founder of Time Travel Turtle and has been travelling full time for a decade.

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Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

Silence. The Sao Pedro Monastery in the Portuguese town of Arouca is quiet now, its rooms empty of the nuns who once lived here. But even in the days when it was full, there was no noise.

No sounds escaped from the lips of the residents; no conversations echoed through the cloisters; there was no shouting, no laughing, no crying.

Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

The young women who joined this monastery would take a vow of silence upon entry. They were generally sent here by their families at the age of about 17 or 18 and, until their dying day, they would not utter a sound.

For some of these girls, Sao Pedro was a prison sentence at first. In the hills of northern Portugal, in the small town of Arouca, they were far from home and far from the rest of the country. The landscape in the region is beautiful – with rocky mountains, large waterfalls and lush green forests – but that provides little comfort for those sent away from their homes.

Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

From the moment the girls walked into the Sao Pedro Monastery, they were banned from having any contact with the outside world. They would never walk back out through those doors. Their life was to be confined within these walls.

Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal
Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

Not that life was awful and uncomfortable. Each nun lived in a large room with their own furniture, which was brought from home. Although the motto here was “work and pray”, in reality all they would do is pray. They had servants for the work.

Most of the young women came from wealthy families and they were permitted to have two maids each. “It’s funny because they had to take a vow of poverty but this was anything but”, my guide jokes.

Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

I’m getting a guided tour around the monastery today because now it is merely a museum – although the attached cathedral is still in use. The monastery dates originally from the 10th century but this latest incarnation of the buildings is from the 17th and 18th century. All put together it forms a large rectangle with three inner patios.

Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

The museum gives you a taste of how life once was here for the silent order. For those interested in religious history, the collection includes vestments, liturgical books, paintings and other items. And the church itself – along with the area for the nuns – is architecturally stunning and lavishly-decorated. For a small town far from Portugal’s population, a lot of money and effort has gone into this place.

Sao Pedro Monastery, Arouca, Portugal

I’m told that the local authorities hope to one day convert some of the space in the monastery into a youth hostel.

Interesting idea… but good luck trying to keep those guests silent!

Time Travel Turtle was a guest of the Porto and Northern Portugal Tourism Association but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.

12 thoughts on “Vow of silence”

  1. It reminds me of Camaldouli Hermits, who were also not allowed to speak, except for the phrase “memento mori’- “remember that you’ll die”. Pretty creepy to have those as your only vocabulary for the rest of your life, better be completely silent.

    Reply
    • I’m sure they got used to it. And they would have thought that sacrificing themselves for their god would not have been a waste, I’m sure. I’m sure there were many people in that monastery who thought it was the people outside who were wasting their lives. As you say: horses, courses.

      Reply
  2. There was a monastery that my mom would take me to visit regularly as a child. The nuns also took a vow of silence and though you could not actually see them when visiting, you could hear them chanting for the twenty minutes each day they were allowed to break their silence.

    Reply

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