Abbey of Santa Maria de Alcobaca
The Abbey of Santa Maria de Alcobaça, is the finest example of Cistercian architecture in Christian Europe. In the course of time, to meet the needs for seclusion, wings were added, but these, for aesthetic reasons, in the then modern architectural style. The façade of this great monument measures no less than 221 meters and consists of three distinct bodies : North wing, Church and South Wing. As a result of the alterations during the 17th and 18th Centuries, the north wing comprised de quarters of the Royal family and illustrious guests, the Hall of Conclusion and other dependencies. In the south wing, built after the 1755 earthquake, was the apartments of the Triennial Abbots and the College of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.
The Alcobaça Monastery (Portuguese: Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça) is a Mediaeval Roman Catholic monastery located in the town of Alcobaça, in Oeste Subregion. It was founded by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, in 1153, and maint...
The Alcobaça Monastery is one of the first foundations of the Cistercian Order in Portugal. It was founded in 1153 as a gift to Bernard of Clairvaux, shortly before his death, from the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, to commemorate his vi...
With a direct link to the church for liturgical offices of morning and evening prayer, it originally contained only the abbot´s individual cell, adjoining the transept and with access to the Treasury. With the construction of the new dormitories, ...
The Abbey of Santa Maria de Alcobaça, is the finest example of Cistercian architecture in Christian Europe. In the course of time, to meet the needs for seclusion, wings were added, but these, for aesthetic reasons, in the then modern architectura...
The Abbey of Santa Maria de Alcobaça, is the finest example of Cistercian architecture in Christian Europe. In the course of time, to meet the needs for seclusion, wings were added, but these, for aesthetic reasons, in the then modern architectura...
Medieval castle of the 12th century, of mountain, of irregular plan, reinforced with cubels, with tower albarrã to the east, tower of honor and barbican. Late reinforcement of one of the cubes with escarpment. It lost importance with the installat...
No description exists of the original facade which presumed to have been in accordance with the Rules of the Order, in a very simple style. The present facade with its ornaments in various styles, comprises three super-imposed bodies. It was modfi...
No description exists of the original facade which presumed to have been in accordance with the Rules of the Order, in a very simple style. The present facade with its ornaments in various styles, comprises three super-imposed bodies. It was modfi...
The current main façade, where decorative elements of different styles are noted, was modified in 1702 by the Italian monk Frei João Turriano, preserving from the primitive Gothic the portico of seven archivolts based on as many columns. On each s...
In the south arm of the transept, the chapel consacrated to the death of Saint Bernards and considered to be the finest work of the Alcobaça ceramists, is notable for the movement given to the figures, in the expressions of the Saint and the grace...
The Pantheon or Hall of Tombs, was built by Abbot Manuel de Mendonça (18th century) for the tombs that had been in the transept since the disappearance of the galille in the time of King Afonso II (13th Century). This contains the tombs of Urraca,...
The tomb of King Pedro I, with a cumbent statue and flanked by angels and on either side are lovely aediculae with scenes from the life of Saint Bartolomeu. The small aediculae on the freeze above it, shows scenes from the life of the Royal Family...
At the apse, the deambulatory with the various apse chapels, and access to the sacristy. Already used in Romanesque architecture, this was the way of allowing pilgrims and believers to worship the relics deposited in the apse chapels, and to circu...
Antechamber of the Sacristy. The Portal in tree trunks, crowned by the coat of arms of Portugal, and the antechamber covered by a starry vault, also give the dimension of the Manueline portico of the sacristy.
