Historic, gothic and the resting place of royals, Portugal’s Alcobaça Monastery is found 121 km/75 mi north of Lisbon. It is the earliest example of gothic style churches in the country. King Afonso Henríques (first king of Portugal) established it 1153 C.E. to honour the victory of Santarem during the Crusades and presented it to Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, a staunch supporter of the Crusades. Construction began years later in 1178 and became the home of this order of Cistercian monks. With close ties to the Portuguese monarchy it houses numerous tombs of past kings. In 1989 UNESCO recognized Alcobaça Monastery as a world heritage site.
Personally I find this building very beautiful and admire the gothic style, so I chose two photos to showcase it.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons – By Flávio de Souza (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons – By Waugsberg (Deutsch: eigene Aufnahme English: own photograph) via Wikimedia Commons
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