In restaurants you can find the most typical dishes such as fish stew of Obidos Lagoon, fried eels and stew. For those who prefer meat, there´s  a great wealth of green fields and the traditional livestock is reflected in the cuisine. They are the usual lamb stew or lamb, grilled meat, asparagus with ham and roasted lamb with herbs and rice. To accompany a great meal nothing better than a magnificent drink. Thanks to its microclimate Obidos and the oeste region produces fine wines, known as Gaeiras or Quinta do Gradil and Oiro Obidos but there are many more! The Jeropiga, brandy and beer and orange liqueurs. But it deserves special mention the most typical and traditional drink of Obidos, the ginjinha. This is a region with it´s own wine route.

To end a great meal can ask for sweet Muggle-of-egg , lampreys of Gaeiras (sweet eggs), moorish, mayors, footprints or pastel de Moura. And if you think this is not sufficient  then ask for the sweet cake, olive oil cake,  cavacas from Caldas da Rainha ,  esquecidos, sweet rice pudding  or strawberry jam with nuts. Don´t miss the Alfeizerão sponge cake or the small boats with sweet eggs and chocolate, you won´t be able to eat only one! A region where the conventual sweets prevail!

If you prefer you can pick fruit. The pear rock ( Pera Rocha) is the most renowned fruit of the region and is produced in the county, especially in the village of Usseira. Or the well knwon Alcobaça Apple, a treat!

Also worthy of highlight are the goat cheese, sheep or mixed. And the dried fuits such as penauts, Pevides- dried pumpkin seeds or the lupini beans.

Its origin dates back to the founding of the Cistercian Abbey (in Latin, Cistercium; in French, Citeaux), in the commune of Saint-Nicolas-les-Citeaux, Burgundy, in 1098, by Roberto de Champagne, abbot of Molesme. This, along with some fellow monks had left the monastic congregation of Cluny to resume the observance of the ancient Benedictine rule, in response to the relaxation of Cluny Order.

Through the “Charta Charitatis” in addition to the rule of Order of St. Benedict, Stephen – third abbot of the Cistercian – established the Order of the supreme authority is exercised by an annual meeting of all the abbots. The monasteries were supervised by the monastery headquarters in Citeaux, and the four oldest monasteries of the Order.

The order will play an important role in the religious history of the twelfth century, come to be imposed throughout the West for its organization and authority. One of his most important works was the colonization of the region east of the Elbe, which simultaneously promoted Christianity, Western civilization and the appreciation of land 1.

Restoration of the Benedictine rule inspired by the Gregorian reform, the Cistercian order promoted asceticism, liturgical rigor and erect, to some extent, the work as a fundamental value, as evidenced by its technical, artistic and architectural heritage.

In addition to the social role until the French Revolution, the order has great influence on the intellectual and economic level, as well as in the arts and spirituality, should its considerable development Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), exceptional charisma man . His influence and his personal prestige made him the most celebrated of the Cistercians. Although not the founder of the order, remains their spiritual mentor 2.

Currently, the Cistercian order is actually made up of two religious orders and various congregations. The order of “Common Observance had in 1988 with more than 1,300 monks nuns in 1500, over 62 monasteries and 64, respectively. The Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (also called OCSO) currently comprises nearly 3,000 monks and nuns in 1875, over one hundred and two male monasteries and seventy-two female monasteries in the world. Are commonly called “Trappist” since the creation of the order resulted from the reform of the Trappist Abbey (in Soligny-la-Trappe, Lower Normandy, France) .

Even separated, the two orders have friendship links and collaborative relationships. The habit is also similar. The Cistercian monks are known as white because of the color of their habit.

Whilst following the Benedictine Rule, the Cistercian monks are not properly considered Benedictines. It was the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) that the word “Benedictine” came to designate the monks who did not belong to any centralized order, as opposed to Cistercians.

Inês  is known as lover and posthumously-recognized wife of King Peter I of Portugal. The dramatic circumstances of her relationship with Peter I, which was forbidden by his father King Afonso IV, her murder at the orders of Afonso, Peter’s bloody revenge on her killers, and the legend of the coronation of her exhumed corpse by Peter, have made Inês de Castro a frequent subject of art, music, and drama through the ages.

Inês came to Portugal in 1340 as a maid of Constance of Castile, recently married to Peter, the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne. The prince fell in love with her and started to neglect his lawful wife, endangering the already feeble relations with Castile. Moreover, Peter’s love for Inês brought the exiled Castilian nobility very close to power, with Inês’s brothers becoming the prince’s friends and trusted advisors. King Afonso IV of Portugal, Peter’s father, disliked Inês’s influence on his son and waited for their mutual infatuation to wear off, but it did not.

Constance of Castile died in 1345. Afonso IV tried several times to arrange for his son to be remarried, but Pedro refused to take a wife other than Inês, who was not deemed eligible to be queen. Peter’s legitimate son, future King Ferdinand I of Portugal, was a frail child, whereas Peter and Inês’s illegitimate children were thriving; this created even more discomfort among the Portuguese nobles, who feared the increasing Castilian influence over Peter. Afonso IV banished Inês from the court after Constance’s death, but Peter remained with her declaring her as his true love. After several attempts to keep the lovers apart, Afonso IV ordered Inês’s death. Pêro Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves, and Diogo Lopes Pacheco went to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra, where Inês was detained, and killed her, decapitating her in front of her small child.

When Peter heard of this he sought out the killers and managed to capture two of them in 1361. He executed them publicly, ripping their hearts out claiming they didn’t have one having pulverized his own heart.

Peter became King of Portugal in 1357. He then stated that he had secretly married Inês, who was consequently the lawful queen, although his word was, and still is, the only proof of the marriage.

Legend has it that he had Inês’s body exhumed from her grave and forced the entire court to swear allegiance to their new queen by kissing the corpse’s hand. She was later buried at the Monastery of Alcobaça where her coffin can still be seen, opposite Peter’s so that, according to the legend, at the Last Judgment Peter and Inês can look at each other as they rise from their graves. Both marble coffins are exquisitely sculpted with scenes from their lives and a promise by Peter that they would be together até ao fim do mundo (until the end of the world).

Inês de Castro and Peter I had the following children:

• Afonso (1346), died young shortly after birth.
• Beatrice, Countess of Alburquerque (c. 1347–1381), married Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque and was thereby the great-grandmother of Ferdinand II of Aragon.^[4]
• John, Duke of Valencia de Campos (1349–1397), claimant to the throne during the 1383–85 Crisis.
• Denis, Lord of Cifuentes (1354–1397), claimant to the throne during the 1383–1385 Crisis.

Well know for its rough sea has no infrastructure support in the sand.

Chosen by paragliders and fishing sports.

The convent stands apart from the whole town, and although some dislike the implantation of new hotels by its side, they can always enjoy the interesting homes of the 18th century, the “guillotine” windows and the magnificent Manueline portal of the main church. It is one of the most fascinating pieces of Gothic and Manueline architecture within the country.

The ornate convent has been put up in limestone from Porto de Mós, that has turned yellow ochre in the course of time. It has an original Portuguese style, a mixture of rayonnant and flamboyant Gothic architecture combined with strong elements of English Perpendicular, that finds few parallels in Europe. As with all Dominican churches, this church has no bell tower.

The western façade, facing the large square with the equestrian statue of general Nuno Álvares Pereira, is divided in three by buttressess and huge pilasters : the Founder’s Chapel (Capelo do Fundador), the side wall of an aisle and the projecting portal. On the right side of this façade are the Imperfect Chapels (Capelas Imperfeitas), a separate octagonal structure added to the complex.

Off the east side, next to the church choir is the chapterhouse (Sala do Capitulo). The closier of King João I borders on the church and this chapterhouse. The structure continues into the cloister of King Afonso V (Claustro de D. Afonso V). On the northern side of the complex lies the Tomb of the Unknown Warriors.

The portal shows in the archivolt a profusion of 78 statues, divided over six rows, of Old Testament Kings, angels, prophets and saints, each under a baldachin. The splays on both sides display (inferior copies of) statues of the apostles, with one standing on a chained devil. The tympanum shows us Christ enthroned, sitting under a baldachin and flanked by the Four Evangelists, each with his own attribute.

Nave and choir

The church is vast and narrow (22m) in proportion to its height (32.4 m). The nave was raised to its present height by the second architect Huguet, altering the proportions of the church and giving it its present aspect. Its interior gives a sober and bare impression by its complete lack of ornaments and statues in the nave. The ribbed vaults, supported by compound piers, are closed by ornamented keystones. Light enters the church through ten stained-glass windows of the clerestory and the tall, traceried windows in the side walls and the transept and through the two rows of lanciform windows in the choir. The choir extends into two-bay transepts and consists of five apsidal chapels, with the central one projecting.

Batalha probably had the first workshop for stained-glass windows in Portugal. The art was introduced in Portugal by German artists from the regions of Franconia and Nuremberg. The oldest windows date back to the end of the 1430s. But the Manueline, ogival stained-glass windows in the choir date from the 1520s and 1530s and were produced by Portuguese masters, among them Francisco Henriques. They represent scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary: the Visitation, the Epiphany, the Flight to Egypt and the Resurrection of Christ.

The architect Mateus Fernandes and his wife are buried under a marble tomb-slab close to the portal. The tomb of the knight Martim Gonçalves de Maçada, who saved the king’s life during the battle at Aljubarrota, can be found close to the Capela do Fundador.

Founders’ Chapel – Tomb of John I and Philippa

Tombs of the four princes (from left to right): Ferdinand, John, Henry, Peter

The square Founders’ Chapel (Portuguese: Capela do Fundador) was built between 1426 and 1434 by the architect Huguet on orders of King John I to become the first royalpantheon in Portugal. It gives a perfect synthesis between Flamboyant Gothic and the English Perpendicular style, as Philippa of Lancaster had brought along a few English architects. The chapel consists of three notional bays and a central octagon buttressed by eight piers, adorned with crockets, supporting deeply stilted arches.

The joint tomb of King John I of Portugal (d.1433) and his wife Philippa of Lancaster (d.1415) stands under the star vault of the octagon. Their statues lie in full regalia, with clasped hands (expressing the good relations between Portugal and England) and heads resting on a pillow, under elaborately ornamented baldachins. The coats of arms of the Houses of Aviz and Lancaster are put on top of these baldachins, together with the insignia of the order of the Garter. On the cover plate of the tomb are inscribed in repetition the mottos of the king Por bem (For the better) and of the queen Yl me plet (I am pleased).

This octagon is surrounded by an ambulatory with complex vaulting. At the south wall stand a row of recessed arches with the tombs of the four younger sons of John I, together with their spouses. From left to right: Ferdinand the Holy Prince (a bachelor, he died a prisoner in Fez in 1443, his bodily remains were later recovered and translated here in 1473), John of Reguengos, the Constable of Portugal (d.1442) with his wife Isabella of Barcelos (d.1466), Henry the Navigator (under a baldachin, d.1460, a bachelor), and Peter of Coimbra (regent for Afonso V, 1438-1448, who was killed at the Battle of Alfarrobeira in 1449, his remains were only translated here in 1456) with his wife Isabella of Urgell (d.1459).

The three tombs on the west wall are copies of the original tombs of King Afonso V (r.1438–1481), John II (r.1481–1495) (empty because the soldiers of Masséna threw away the bones) and his son and heir, Prince Afonso (who died in an accident at the age of seventeen, predeceasing his father).

Unfinished Chapels[edit]

Portal of the unfinished chapels

As Capelas Imperfeitas (The Unfinished Chapels) remain as a testimony of the fact that the monastery was never actually finished. They form a separate octagonal structure tacked on the choir of the church (via a retrochoir) and only accessible from the outside. It was commissioned in 1437 by King Edward of Portugal (“Dom Duarte”, d.1438) as a second royal mausoleum for himself and his descendants. But he and his queen Eleanor of Aragon are the only ones buried here (Eleanor died in exile in Toledo in 1445, her remains were only translated here in 1456).

The original design, begun by Huguet, was altered by successive architects, especially Mateus Fernandes (who is buried inside the church). The octagonal rotunda has seven radiating hexagonal chapels. In the corners of the chapels stand the massive unfinished buttresses, that were intended to support the vault. These pillars, designed by Diogo Boitac, are decorated with Manueline motives carved in stone.

The portal rises to a monumental fifteen metres. It was originally built in Gothic style, but was transformed beyond recognition by Mateus Fernandes into a masterpiece of Manueline style (completed in 1509). It is completely decorated into a lacework of sumptuous and stylized Manueline motives : armillary, spheres, winged angels, ropes, circles, tree stumps, clover-shaped arches and florid projections. This homage of King Manuel I to his predecessor King Edward mentions his motto Leauté faray tam yaserei (I will always be loyal). This motto is then repeated more than two hundred times in the arches, vaults and pillars of the chapels.

The Renaissance loggia, added at about 1533, was probably meant for musicians. It is ascribed to the architect João de Castilho.

Chapterhouse

The Chapterhouse (Portuguese: Sala do Capitulo) reminds the visitors of the military reason for its foundation: two sentinels guard the tombs of two unknown soldiers killed in World War I.

This square room is especially notable for its star vault lacking a central support and spanning a space of 19 square meters. This was such a daring concept at the time that condemned prisoners were used to perform the task. It was completed after two failed attempts. When the last scaffolds were removed, it is said that Huguet spent the night under the vault in order to silence his critics.

The stained-glass Renaissance window in the east wall dates from 1508. It depicts scenes of the Passion and is attributed to the Portuguese painters Master João and Francisco Henriques.

Royal Cloister

King John I Cloisters of Batalha Monastery.

The Royal Clositer (Portuguese: Claustro Real) is cloister was not part of the original project. It was built under the architect Fernão de Évorabetween 1448 and 1477. Its sober outward appearance is in stark contrast with the Flamboyant Gothic style of the church. The carved tracery decoration in Gothic style (including quatrefoils, fleurs-de-lis and rosettes) by Huguet in the ambulatory forms a successful combination with the Manueline style in the arcade screens, added later by Mateus Fernandes. Two different patterns alternate, one with the cross of the Order of Christ, the other with armillaries.

The colonnettes, supporting these intricate arcade screens, are decorated with spiral motives, armillaries, lotus blossoms, briar branches, pearls and shells and exotic vegetation.

Lavabo

Situated in the northwestern corner of the Claustro Real, this work of Mateus Fernandes is of a beauty and harmony difficult to describe. It consists of a fountain and two smaller basins above. The whole is bathed in a golden glow seeping through the intricate tracery of the arches around it.

Cloister of King Afonso

This sober cloister next to the Claustro Real was built in conventional Gothic style with double pointed arches. It was constructed in the second half of the 15th century by the architect Fernão de Évora. It stands in contrast with the Manueline flamboyance of the somewhat larger Claustro Real. The keystones in the vault carry the coat-of-arms of D. Duarte I and Afonso V.

Was first mentioned in a Foral Letter by Frei Estevão Martins, that lived in the Alcobaça Monastery. Was Alcobaça´s harbour where were developed activities related to fishing and shipbuilding. A Village and the county seat until 1855. It was initially formed by the village itself that  in 1801, had 932 inhabitants. In 1839 was annexed to the villages of Alfeizerão, Salir do Porto and Serra do Bouro. In 1849, 3596 inhabitants.

Due to its local development and the construction of the pier, in 1885 the beach neighborhood began to remember a second village.

It´s a seaside resort frequented by the nobility and the bourgeoisie since the late nineteenth century, frequently known as the bidet of the Marquise because of the bay design.

Currently the village is made up of two distinct sections:

The lower part, nearby the beach, more dedicated to tourism
The upper part, where pontificate the traditional houses and the local Church.

It has one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, a bay, in the form of scallop, with calm waters and fine white sand.Despite time has diminished the commercial importance of the port, its tourist activity and the very beach life gives it a special dynamic, especially during the summer.

The bay is only connected to the sea through a gap of a few meters. Hence, the waters are calm, great for kids and best yet for sailing competitions, windsurfing or canoeing. At the main road, where parking is difficult,  numerous cafes, restaurants and terraces can be found.. A narrow footpath leads directly to the ocean, from the area of doca.

Has a traditional place called the Coffee Street, with coffee shops and restaurants, where cars don´t go and one can have a good time after the beach, in the evening, drinking a beer accompanied with lupini beans or peanuts. These can be bought at the traditional sellers that are by the beach. Don´t miss the peanut cookies or the Pevides- dried pumpkin seeds or the Crise, a dish of chips and eggs, famous after the April Revolution, because meat was hard to find, and now is a must eat treat.

As for its heritage, don´t miss the Cruzeiro, a big cross up one the hills, or the Saint Anthony Chapel.

On the other side of the bay, in Salir, is the one of the biggest sand hills in the country. Takes a while to go up but a minute to come all the way down.