This monastery lies at the heart of the town of Batalha. It borders a large square, where during the Saturday afternoon that I visited people were enjoying themselves on rollerskates and loud Christmas songs were played. There are also many cafés and souvenir shops, a sign that this is well on the tourist trail. The building itself is colossal. It is made out of stones in a rare yellowish colour, added by lots of grey on top from dirt. The pigeons love it too.

The first thing I did was walk around it slowly. It is an impressive but also weird construction. The seemingly endless decoration scheme is really over-the-top. Just as with the Hieronymite Monastery in Lisbon, I cannot say that I am becoming a big fan of this Manueline style.

Near the front end, there's a huge black equestrian statue, commemorating the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 - which is why the construction of this monastery was started at all. The main portal also has the most beautiful carvings of little angels, saints, kings and other holy men.

The interior of the church is much soberer. Only the stained glass windows lighten up the atmosphere. Although entrance to the church itself is free, I bought a ticket for 6 EUR to see the rest of the monastery. The cloisters however I found unremarkable, especially after having seen those at the Hieronymite Monastery the day before. I ended up at the Capelas Imperfeitas, clearly a later addition. I could only look at them from a fair distance, as the entrance was closed due to a slippery floor. Finally, I was back at the front entrance of the church again, where directly to the right just after entering lies the Capela do Fundador. This is the royal mausoleum, with tombs placed in the walls and that of one royal couple (king Joao I) in the center. Just like the Capelas Imperfeitas, this space has some undefinable touches of Indian architecture (maybe it's the curvings or the elaborate decoration).