Batalha

Return to the N8 and continue on to Batalha. Here you will discover one of Portugal’s gems, the stunning Monastery of Batalha, a combination of Gothic and Manueline styles. Tall stained-glass windows are the first and only things you notice upon entering until your eyes adjust to the interior dimness. To the immediate right is the stark, white Founder’s Chapel sheltering the tomb of João I and his English wife, Philippa of Lancaster. Other notables rest in carved niches around the walls, including João’s son, Henry the Navigator, founder of the school of navigation at Sagres that made possible the great voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries (although Henry himself never went). On the left, across the nave, is the entrance to the Royal Cloister whose delightful garden patio is overlooked through graceful, carved Gothic arcades—almost no two alike. To the right as you enter is the Chapter House, which contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I, where two modern-day soldiers keep vigil. Actually there are two unknown soldiers, too, one who died in Europe and one who died in Africa, along with an eternal flame fueled by pure Portuguese olive oil. The former refectory on the opposite side of the cloister houses a Museum of the Unknown Soldier featuring the tributes paid by foreign dignitaries upon visiting the tomb. Beyond, and in sharp contrast to, the Royal Cloister is the plainly severe Cloister of Dom Afonso V, added later. From here you exit and walk to the right around the outside to reach the dramatic unfinished chapels (Capelas Imperfeitas), built in rich Manueline style to be King Duarte’s chapel. Both his tomb and his wife’s are there, but the massive, ornately carved buttresses climb to the open sky, patiently awaiting the weight of a roof, which was never completed.As in Alcobaça, shops and cafés are found in the immediate vicinity of the monastery and, beyond that, the town features some pretty 17th- and 18th-century houses and a nice parish church. Ideally situated, the Pousada da Batalha–Mestre Afonso Domingues sits in the shadow of the monastery. The inn is named for the principal architect of the Monastery de Maria da Vitoria, dedicated to Our Lady of Victory, and built by João I to commemorate and give thanks for the victory of the Portuguese at Aljubarrota.An interesting side trip from Batalha is to head south through Porto de Mós, with its splendid castle, and then southeast on N243 toward Mira de Aire, an important textile area. Here there are four caves you can visit: the Grutas de Alvados, with a series of interesting chambers; the nearby Grutas de Santo Antonio, some 6,000 square meters in area (both of these are reached before Mira de Aire); the Grutas Mira de Aire, supposedly the deepest in Europe; and, north of Mira de Aire near São Mamede, the Grutas de Moeda, smaller and at a depth of 45 meters. If you are only casually interested in caves, the second and third are the most interesting.