Alcobaça is a small town situated in the picturesque valley of the Alco and Baca rivers from which it takes its name. Its pride and main magnet attracting tourists is the Cistercian Monastery, entered on the UNESCO list.
For over 700 years, the history of the city was inextricably linked with the Cistercian Order. They founded their monastery here right after the Reconquest, and the city that emerged next to it became a base for the order and its interests. Its development was brought to an end only by the dissolution of the Cistercian Order in the first half of the 19th century.
The greatest attraction and main monument of Alcobaça is the mighty Cistercian Monastery. It is considered one of the main works of Gothic architecture in Portugal. Rebuilt several times, it also has features of other styles. Due to its monumentality and importance for the culture of the country, it was entered on the UNESCO list.
There are many places to visit within the Monastery of Alcobaça. Apart from the church, they include chapels and burial places of rulers. Sculptures of Portuguese rulers are placed in the azulejos tiled Hall of the Kings, while Portuguese rulers are buried in the Pantheon of Kings. The tombstone of King Peter I and his lover Ines de Castro evokes the greatest emotions. She was stabbed to death on the orders of Father Peter I as unworthy of being called a queen due to her low origin. According to the message, after coming to power, Peter I ordered the exhumation of her body from the original burial in Coimbra and declared her queen, ordering the powerful to kiss the hand of the corpse. They are now buried together in Alcobaça and their tombstones are among the most important examples of funerary art in the country.
