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The Monastery of Alcobaça (Mosteiro de Alcobaça), located about 120 km north of Lisbon, is one of Portugal’s most important medieval landmarks and one of the finest examples of Cistercian architecture in Europe. Founded in 1153 by King Afonso I after the Christian reconquest of the region, it was entrusted to the Cistercian Order, whose monks helped cultivate the surrounding land and played a major role in the economic and cultural development of the young Portuguese kingdom.

The monastery church, completed in the 13th century, was the first fully Gothic building in Portugal. Its vast, light-filled interior reflects the Cistercian ideals of simplicity, harmony and proportion, with almost no unnecessary decoration. Beyond the church, the monastery includes an impressive medieval cloister, a monumental kitchen with its enormous chimney, the refectory, chapter house and many other well-preserved monastic spaces that illustrate centuries of monastic life.

Alcobaça is also famous for the magnificent tombs of King Pedro I and Inês de Castro, whose tragic love story has become one of Portugal’s best-known legends. Their beautifully carved 14th-century Gothic tombs, richly decorated with biblical scenes, mythical creatures and intricate stonework, are considered masterpieces of medieval Portuguese sculpture. Placed facing each other across the transept, they symbolise the legend that the lovers will see one another first on the Day of Resurrection.

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