Alcobaca Monastery

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Monastery Of Alcobaca (1989) Portugal'S Great Cistercian Abbey And The Tombs Of Pedro I And Ines De Castro · Alcobaca, Leiria

The Monastery of Alcobaca, Santa Maria de Alcobaca, is the great Cistercian abbey of Portugal and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989. King Afonso Henriques granted the land to the monks of Bernard of Clairvaux in 1153, and the church, begun in 1178, is one of the largest in the country: a tall, white, almost bare Gothic nave that follows the Cistercian rule of simplicity. People come for the carved tombs of King Pedro I and Ines de Castro, the murdered lover he is said to have crowned after her death, set facing each other across the transept; for the Cloister of Silence, the vast dormitory, the Hall of Kings and the tiled kitchen with a river channel running through its floor. The town adds ginja cherry liqueur and conventual sweets. It pairs easily with Batalha and Nazare. The honest caveats: the church is free but the best rooms are on the ticket, the interior is cold and plain in a way some visitors find austere, and the town around the square is small.

Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaca, Praca 25 de Abril, Alcobaca, about 20 km south-west of Batalha, Alcobaca, Leiria, Portugal

Open daily, roughly 09:00 to 19:00 from spring to early autumn and to about 18:00 in winter, with last entry about 30 minutes before closing; closed on a few public holidays such as 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December - confirm all hours. The church is usually free; the cloister, kitchen, refectory, dormitory and Hall of Kings are ticketed. No railway serves the town: come by car on the A8 or by coach from Lisbon, Leiria or Nazare. Advance booking is not normally needed.

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