My wife and I were here on a Gate1 tour, and visiting this Monastery was part of the guided tour…read more It was the first building in Portugal to adopt the Gothic style and is the largest church in the country. It has a lot of unadorned 12th-century arches. Inside are the highly decorated tombs of King Pedro I and his lover Inês de Castro-it's a tragic love story that has been the source of 17 operas. In 1340, the young Inês de Castro met Pedro when she arrived at court in his wife's entourage. Inês and Pedro fell madly in love, and neither the disapproval of the king nor the machinations of Pedro's wife could keep the two of them apart. In an act of desperation, King Afonso IV, Pedro's father, finally had Inês murdered before her children's eyes. Pedro, heartbroken and enraged, rose up in open rebellion against his father, but ultimately failed in his quest for revenge and justice. Two years after Inês' death, Afonso died and Pedro became king. Legend holds that Pedro ordered Inês' body to be disinterred, her corpse dressed in finery and propped up in the throne room. Pedro then ordered his vassals to pledge their obedience and loyalty to this corpse he called his wife and queen, and further demanded that they kiss her dead hand.

While spending a day away from family in Portugal, we decided to spend some time in Alcobaça. We…read moreended up spending exploring this monastery after having breakfast at a cafe directly in front of the building. There was nothing like eating in front of this gorgeous building with my wife as we enjoyed the silence of the morning. Once we entered the monastery we were reminded of how incredible old architecture is. The stonework here is beautiful and the details are incredible. We loved walking through the tomb room as well as spending time in the courtyard garden. The community and staff here have done an incredible job of restoring the building as well as providing a learning space for new visitors. Overall, we loved spending the day at this monastery, and the other parts of the surrounding town are great to explore as well.

This was stop on our personal driving trip in Portugal. It is UNESCO site and Rick Steve Europe…read moretrip episode. This monastery mainly to remember the soldiers who die in the war. The unique of this church is the gothic design of the church. It is beautiful stone work. They are very decorative. The entrance to the monastery is really beautiful. The visit will require two hours. This monastery is local at center region of the Portugal. One tip. If you decided to visit Batalha Monastery, Tomar Convent of Christ, Alcobaça Monastery, there is a combo ticket you can save some money. Just buy the combo ticket on the first place that you go for a seven day limited visit. The Batalha Monastery has many chamber. The sanctuary has tall columns to welcome you. Other chamber include tomb of King João I and other royals families. The courtyard has beautiful arches hallway. Each contain beautiful arch way entrance to garden. There is war chamber have displayed the medal, uniform, emblem, other war items. I love the last section we have visited. It is call the unfinished chapel. The column is beautifully crafted. It is one of the most beautiful thing I see in large scale. Do not miss that. It entrance is at the outside. So after you have finished everything inside don't forget to go to this no roof chapel.

The Batalha Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We stopped here on our Viking Cruises…read moretransfer from Lisbon to Porto and I'm so glad we did! It is intertwined with Portuguese history and is the burial place of the 14th to 15th century royalty the Portuguese call the "Illustrious Generation". These include King John I, his wife Philippa of Lancaster, and their children, including the fabled Prince Henry the Navigator. John I ensured the independence of Portugal. Prince Henry launched Portugal's Age of Discovery. They are buried in the octagonal Founder's Chapel. The Royal Cloisters lead from the church. They are an intricate Gothic wonder. The former Chapter House is now the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Adjacent is the Cloister of Dom Afonso V. It was added later, and is in a much simplified Gothic style. Lastly, a great surprise are the Unfinished Chapels, mortuary chapels commissioned by Duarte. Work was not taken up on them for nearly half a century, and by the time it was, the Manueline style had come into fashion under Manuel I. Thus, these eight chapel, open tot he sky are in a beautiful Manueline architecture. The monastery is simply a historical and visual treat.

What can I say? This is one of the most famous pilgrimage places for Catholics worldwide. See it in…read moreperson is a much more different experience than any learning people you can do. Such a beautiful sanctuary that both believers a non-believers can enjoy and see for them themselves. There's an energy about this place. Small town in Portugal gaining worldwide fame over children's years over decades ago. Inside you'll find three different areas of worship. My favorite is the Chapel of apparitions, which is an outdoor chapel. It's supposedly where the children saw the mother Mary. The easiest way to get here is buy a tour or taking a bus directly from Lisbon. This is definitely worth a A visit if you're in Portugal. it is simply a place you check out and feel it's special energy.

If you are visiting Lisbon, be sure to make a pilgrimage to this holy site! We took the Metro…read moretrain from Lisbon to Orient station, then connected to an express bus for 2 hour ride to Fatima. Once there, take a 10 minute walk to the Fatima site. I was pleasantly surprised to see how modern this place was! There are 6 major locations within this site. 1. Chapel of the apparitions 2. Basilica of our Lady 3. High cross. 4. Immaculate heart of Mary 5. Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity

So legend says a knight was saved from falling off the cliff by Our Lady of Nazaré, who casually…read moreperformed a miracle with zero regard for physics. The original statue was brought from Nazareth by a monk in the 4th century. You know, the usual backpacking trip. Inside there is gilded everything. Angels. Tilework. Your inner grandma will swoon.

OK - For the purposes of full disclosure, I have a thing for visiting ossuaries. Yes, it is macabre…read moreand bizarre, and TBH, I can't explain why. The Chapel of Bones, which is part of this church and accompanying museum, has been on my list for quite a while and is in the historic city center that is a UNESCO World Heritage site (although the church and chapel are not specifically part of the site.) The chapel is more than just the bones. There are also some frescoes and other architectural features that are really worth seeing. Presumably because it was almost Christmas, there was a display of multiple nativity scenes in the museum.

My wife and I were here on a Gate1 tour, we went on a morning Evora city tour, and the first stop…read morewas the Sao Francisco Church (Igreja de São Francisco), which is famous for its Ossuary chapel (Capela dos Ossos- Chapel of Bones, whose walls are decorated with thousands of human bones and skulls. One of the s girls was really scared with the bones and I comforted her (11 years old) and she calmed down thereafter. An estimated 5,000 corpses were exhumed to decorate the walls of the chapel. The bones, which came from ordinary people who were buried in Évora's medieval cemeteries, were arranged by the Franciscans in a variety of patterns. The church itself is huge, beautiful, Gothic style, with 12 open chapels.

This azuleo lined church of Saint Mary was originally a Visigoth Temple in the 8th century. Located…read moreright off the square on Rua Direita.

Wow, I did not expect to see this when walking into the church. It appears destroyed on the…read moreinside, as it basically was due to earthquake and fire. Have never seen anything like it. Definitely a neat experience.

The third of three churches, my wife and I visited in Lisbon, Portugal, during a transatlantic…read morecruise, the Catholic Church of St Dominic was heavily damaged/destroyed by fire in 1959. It reopened in 1994, with much of that damage clearly indicating burn marks throughout the church. It has daily mass, with signs asking for visitors to respect the religious reasons for visits.

Chapel of the bones was very interesting. So many churches are basically the same but this is…read moredefinitely unique. Love they don't rush us through and no issues taking pictures. Someone who had been there said they had recently improved thAe lighting. so thank you. Obviously, you are asked not to use flash for photos. I guess the bones are supposed to be a symbol of that no matter who you are we are all human. That even the monks were flesh and bone. Im an xray tech so bones definitely don't creep me out.

Visiting the Chapel of Bones has been on my bucket list for a long time. Perhaps it is creepy and…read moreweird to visit ossuaires but I have been to several. This one is different because it is part of a museum and there are frescoes on the ceiling. Worth a visit.

This striking white Renaissance church sits at the North end of the Praca do Giraldo. It has a…read morebeautiful marble fountain in front of it that is made from one piece of marble.

Quaint little medieval town inside castle walls. There's lots of venders, restaurants, and a…read moretheater with stage. There's also restrooms for guests to use. A definite must when visiting Portugal.

This is a medieval town, still with its old fortifications in place that is an absolute marvel and…read morea must-do whenever you're visiting Portugal. There are so many cute shops to choose from and the entire walking experience was both picturesque and relaxing. The town is full of shops that offer good items at very reasonable prices. Among all of the towns that I visited, the souvenirs here were definitely among the best and very unique. There are lots of historic sites to visit and cobblestone streets are everywhere. The one thing to keep in mind is given a lot of roads are uneven for obvious reasons, older people should take notice when walking. I saw quite a few older folks in my group have trouble navigating the walk, that is something to watch out for.