Alcobaça

Continue on N8 to Alcobaça, which derives its name from its situation at the confluence of the Alcoa and Baca rivers. It is also the home of the Real Abadia de Santa Maria de Alcobaça, one of Portugal’s most outstanding monuments, which dominates the center of town. Founded in 1178 by Portugal’s first king, Dom Afonso Henriques, the Cistercian monastery is a marvel of medieval architecture. The church is impressive for its extreme length compared to its narrow width. In the transept of the church are the intricately carved limestone tombs of Inês de Castro and King Pedro I, whose tragic love story has set the theme for numerous literary works. Inês, a lady-in-waiting to Prince Pedro’s wife, proved irresistibly attractive to the young prince and when his wife died, he installed Inês as his mistress, since her humble origins precluded marriage to the future king. Although their love was idyllic, many of the nobles feared that the illegitimate offspring of this union would aspire to the throne, so they convinced the king, Afonso IV, to condone her murder. When Afonso died and Pedro became king, he set out to avenge her death by hunting down and punishing the noble murderers one by one. Legend has it (probably fictitiously) that Pedro exhumed the skeleton of his dead paramour, had her crowned queen in regal dress, and forced the nobility to file by and kiss her hand. At any rate, he did spend much time and energy during his short reign (1357–1367) exalting her memory and, as you can see, provided quite handsomely for their eternal resting places. They are allegedly positioned so that when their souls were resurrected, their first sight would be of each other. On the opposite side of the pretty cloister from the church are the abbey buildings, including the impressive kitchen through which flows a branch of the River Alcoa, which provided the monks with fish. Next to it is the spacious refectory, sometimes used today as a community theater. Town activity centers around the large main square, its numerous shops proffering a wide variety of the distinctive blue-and-white ceramics typical of the area.