Portugal's Gothic heart — the Cistercian monastery where Dom Pedro kissed the hand of his dead queen and wept
Alcobaça is a small Portuguese town 100km north of Lisbon that contains one of the great Gothic buildings of the Iberian Peninsula — the Monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989. Founded by Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king, in 1153 as a fulfillment of a vow made before the Battle of Ourique, the monastery was built and expanded by the Cistercians over four centuries into the largest church in Portugal. Its two most famous contents are the tombs of Dom Pedro I and Inês de Castro — a medieval love story of extraordinary violence and romantic pathos. P…
The Monastery of Alcobaça was founded in 1153 by King Afonso Henriques following his victory at Santarém and built by the Cistercian order from Clairvaux under Bernard of Clairvaux's influence. The original Romanesque building was replaced by a Gothic structure from the 13th century, reaching its current form through successive royal patronage. The monastery served as the royal pantheon of the first Portuguese dynasty — eleven kings and queens are buried here. The Manueline elaboration of the kitchen and Sacristy door came in the 16th century. The French army sacked and damaged the monastery…