Attractions and Places To See around Aljubarrota (São Vicente) - Top 20

The tombs of King Pedro I (1320–1367), known as Dom Pedro the Cruel, or the Just, and his lover Inês de Castro (1320–1355), located on both sides of the transept, still give the church significance and splendor today. The tombs are among the most important funerary sculptures of the Middle Ages, commissioned by Dom Pedro immediately after his accession to the throne in 1357 to house his lover Inês de Castro, executed by his father two years earlier, and himself after his death. The scenes on the tombs, some of which are elaborated to the point of being invisible, depict historical events from Portuguese history, but also from the lives of Dom Pedro and Inês de Castro. Some are of biblical origin or refer to mere mythical creatures. The iconography is, on the one hand, quite extensive, and, on the other, highly controversial. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Alcoba%C3%A7a

The medieval sacristy, measuring just over 100 m² and located at the end of the northern side of the transept, was replaced during the reign of King Manuel I (1495–1521) by a sacristy of approximately 250 m², adjacent to an atrium on the southeast side of the ambulatory. This sacristy, along with the chapel of Senhor dos Passos, was built at the same time as the construction of the chapel. Like the chapel itself, it was destroyed in the earthquake of 1755. During the reconstruction, the Manueline portals were preserved, one of the few remaining elements of this style in Alcobaça. At the end of the sacristy is the Chapel of the Relics. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Alcoba%C3%A7a

In the eastern aisle of the church, in an adjoining room, eight additional sarcophagi are located, in which Beatriz, the wife of Afonso III, and three of her children were buried. One sarcophagus housed the first wife of Afonso II, Dona Urraca. The history of the other sarcophagi is unknown. The sarcophagi are now empty and were resealed between 1996 and 2000. The adjoining building in which they are now housed was built as a result of repairs after the great flood of 1772. Previously, the sarcophagi stood in the south transept from the 16th century onwards, and before that, presumably in the nave.

Consecrated in 1252, the church is an outstanding example of Portuguese Gothic architecture. Construction probably began in 1178, but the exact date of completion is unknown. The church is shaped like a Latin cross (a symbol of Christianity) and consists of a nave and a transept, which contains the tombs of Dom Pedro and Dom Inês de Castro. The nave is divided into three parts: the central nave and the side aisles, which served merely as passageways. Construction began with the transept, which consists of nine radially arranged chapels with a trapezoidal floor plan, connected to each other and to the transept by an ambulatory and covered by barrel vaults. Light enters through the large rose window, the two side bays of the façade, the narrow slits in the side walls, as well as the rose windows and large windows at both ends of the transept and the tall windows in the transept. The northern transept provided direct access to the monks' dormitory of the adjacent monastery. At the opposite end of the transept, beneath a large rose window and two large windows, the door to the monks' cemetery, commonly called the "Gate of the Dead," still stands today. The church contains the tombs of the early Portuguese kings Afonso II (1185–1123; tomb from 1224) and Afonso III (1210–1279). They are located on either side of the Chapel of St. Bernard (containing the depiction of his death) in the south transept. http://www.mosteiroalcobaca.gov.pt/pt/index.php

From the chapter house on the ground floor, a staircase leads up to the dormitory. This staircase was rediscovered during renovations beginning in 1930. Located on the first floor, the dormitory extends 66.5 meters in length and 21.5 to 17.5 meters in width along the entire east side of the medieval part of the abbey, thus covering an area of almost 1,300 square meters. In its current form, restored through renovation, it presents itself in its original medieval state. At the southern end, the dormitory opens with a large round-arched doorway to the northern transept of the church. A staircase formerly led down from there, as the Cistercian rule required two separate entrances to the communal sleeping quarters. At the northern end of the dormitory were the latrines, which—again according to a general rule of the order—had to be separated from the sleeping quarters by a separate room. The wastewater flowed into the abbey's garden on the north side. The monks slept together in the dormitory, fully clothed, separated from their neighbors only by a movable partition. The abbot alone had his own cell, located on the south side facing the church. This arrangement is typical of most Cistercian monasteries of this period. A narrow door in the center of the western side leads to a narrow spiral staircase, which today provides access to the kitchen, but in the Middle Ages led to the calefactory (warming room, see below). This staircase also provided access to the upper cloister. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Alcoba%C3%A7a

The entrance to the chapter house features a particularly striking facade with staggered columns. The chapter house served as the meeting place for the monks and was, after the church, the most important room in the monastery. It bears this name because the chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict were read aloud there daily. Elections and similar communal ceremonies of the monks also took place there. In the entrance area to the chapter house is the gravestone of an abbot whose identity is no longer known. The floor of the chapter house was formerly completely covered with such gravestones, as a Cistercian rule from 1180 stipulated that abbots had to be buried in the chapter house, meaning that the monks made their decisions on the graves of their deceased abbots. This type of burial was a significant exception to the general Cistercian rule, which forbade the burial of monks within the monastery. That's why you'll find a door leading south in the southern transept called the Porta da Morte (Door of Death), because deceased monks were carried out through it for burial. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Alcoba%C3%A7a

To the west of the new kitchen lies the refectory, the dining hall for the monks, a three-aisled hall measuring approximately 620 square meters (29 x 21.5 meters). Above its entrance, in medieval Latin, is the difficult-to-interpret inscription: "respicte quia peccata populi comeditis," meaning: "Remember that you are eating the sins of the people." The room impresses with its beautiful proportions. It has windows facing north and east, overlooking the new kitchen. On the west side, a stone staircase leads to the pulpit of the lector, who read from monastic texts during meals. The monks sat facing the walls and ate their meals in silence. The abbot sat with his back to the north wall, observing the proceedings. At the southern end of the west side, the refectory opens into the former medieval kitchen, now a side room leading to the cloister of the Cathedral of Afonso VI. A few meters further along, another opening can be found in the same wall, two meters high and 32 cm wide. It leads to the aforementioned side room, and there is no scientifically sound explanation for it. A long-standing legend claims that this opening served to monitor the monks' weight. They were supposed to pass through this door once a month, which is only possible by leaning sideways. If they were too heavy, they were put on a diet. The damage caused by the conversion of the refectory into a theater in 1840 (with 301 seats, 120 of which were in the galleries, and 5 boxes) was largely repaired during the restoration. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Alcoba%C3%A7a

The exact date of the monastery kitchen's reconstruction is disputed, despite a date of 1712 inscribed within the kitchen. However, it is assumed that the new kitchen was completed before the construction of King Afonso VI's cloister, thus likely towards the end of the 17th century. In the center of the kitchen, a chimney was built over a base of approximately 3 x 8 meters and reached a height of about 25 meters. Two flanking chimneys of the same height flanked the kitchen, forming the highest point in the monastery's roofscape after the church and its nave. Such structures existed in Portugal only at the Convent of Christ in Tomar and the Royal National Palace in Sintra. The hearth of the main chimney is recessed to hold the embers, so that these facilities—after centuries of abstaining from meat—were now suitable for grilling and roasting whole cattle. A ditch of the levada, the artificial side channel of the Alcoa River, flows beneath the kitchen floor. On the west side of the kitchen are seven large stone basins, each with two spouts depicting mythical faces or grotesque masks. Water flowed into these tub-sized basins, fed by a channel running inside the wall. In 1762, the kitchen received its current tiles, which cover both the walls and ceiling. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Alcoba%C3%A7a