I visited the Alcobaca monastery on oct.the 11th,2024.

I arrived in Alcobaca around 11.45 am and went straight to the tourist office (inside the museum of the speaking machines,free entry,quite interesting)  where I could leave my bag till 18.00. Not really necessary as the monastery  also has lockers,but I hadnt known this before.

I first entered the church of the Alcobaca monastery (free admission) where the tombs of  King Pedro and Lady de Castro are. The church itself is  characterized by an elegant simplicity that can only be described as beautiful. I was positively surprised as my expectations for churches are not that high nowadays. I guess I have seen too many in my life. I then went to the cistercian monastery's entrance and started my tour through the unesco heritage place. First the Sala Dos Reis( Kings' room) ...through the Dinis Cloister which gives access to the other main rooms. Then to the Sala do Capitulo,from there to the Common Dormitory on the top floor, from where I could see the tombs of King Pedro and Lady Ines de Castro through a window, that once gave direct access to the church. The refectory is linked to the stunningly large kitchen with its its enormous chimney.From there I went to the upper floor by taking the tight spiral stairs from where I had another astonishing view of the kitchen. From the upper floor you can have a look at another not accessible monastery garden.And dont miss out on the hidden details on the walls! Alcobaca is not an overloaded baroque monastery but a masterpiece of harmony in its simplicity and sobriety combined with incredible little hidden ornaments and decorations. A fantastic monastery that I liked better than Batalha and is too different from Tomar to compare it with that crusader castle-monastery.

As for the tombs of King Pedro and Lady de Castro,they were placed facing each other so that when they rise in afterlife they shall see each other.The placement of tombs in a cistercian church had never happend before...neither with members of the Order itself nor with its founders.It must have been an act of recognition for the king's support of the Order.

I needed around 2 hours to finish my tour through the monastery and the church. After that I headed to the Levada of Alcobaca (the monastery's water supply system) in the rua(street) "Costa Veiga", where you can still see the complex that includes the levada, a large channel and the drinking water pipeline.

I then had a coffee and a meal in one of the restaurants facing the monastery's entrance. I also visited the garden of love behind the tourist office,went up to  the Alcobaca castle or better its ruins from where you have an excellent view of the monastery. I took some great pictures there.Then I revisited the monastery church All in all I spent around 6 hours in Alcobaca and  left it around 18.00 for Batalha where I stayed overnight to visit its unesco monastery in the following morningl