The Monastery of Batalha

I have already spoken about the 7 marvels of Portugal in previous articles, but basically it is a list of public monuments in Portugal that I have chosen as the best ones. Of these, I have already spoken about one: the castle and wall of Óbidos.

Near the Convent of Christ, we found two other ones: the Monastery of Alcobaça, and the Monastery of Batalha. On this occasion, we will be focusing on the Monastery of Batalha.

source

How to arrive here

Batalha is a small city that doesn't have a train station, and so the best way to arrive here is by bus or car. In a bus, the main company is Rede de Express, but as I said in other articles, coming from Coímbra it will be quite expensive to get to Batalha, but if you come from Lisbon it will be cheaper and only one hour more on the motorway.

This place is close to the motorway towards Lisbon and it is for this reason that if you don't have a car, it would be a good idea to come here with BlaBlaCar, but the problem then would be the return journey, or if you wanted to go to another city.

By car, Batalha can be found next to the A19 that links Coímbra with Lisbon (and other cities as well), other motorways that pass by it as well include the IC2, N1, N356, all three of which are free.

A bit of history

The Monastery of Batalha owes its existence to the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, a fight between Portuguese and Spanish troops. The Portuguese were less in number and yet still managed to defeat the Spanish. This victory allowed for Castilla to maintain its independence, this was so until the so-called "Philippine dynasty" began in Portugal.

King John I (King Joäo in Portuguese) promised the construction of the monastery if the Portuguese army defeated the Spanish and due to the success of the Battle of Aljubarrota, the King built the town of Batalha next to the monastery.

source

The building of the monastery took 150 years and because of this, it has many different styles of architecture: on one side, a Manueline Gothic style (Portuguese Gothic), combined with other styles of Gothic structure, as well as a Renaissance style.

For this reason, the monastery has hosted many different architects like Afonos Domingues, Mestre Huguet (Catalán), Martim Vasques, Fernäo de Évora and Mateus Fernandes.

King John I donated the monastery to the Dominican Order who arrived in Portugal after the dissolution of religious orders in 1834. The monastery, due to its importance, was passed from the hands of the Hacienda Pública (local government) to the Portuguese State.

The Monastery of Batalha was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The Church

The area is divided into two parts: firstly, on one side of the church, entry is totally entry, and the other side is where the monastery is.

One of the religious elements that Portugal has a lack of is beautiful cathedrals, and tragically, all of the best ones have suffered from earthquakes or fires, or both. For this reason, although the Monastery of Alcobaça and the Monasterio Batalha aren't cathedrals, their churches are can almost be considered like so.

Once you enter the church you will notice how large it is, and the special thing about it is how it combines with the Monastery of Batalha. Visiting the monastery prompts you to realise just how gigantic it is due to all the space it takes up.

As you enter, on the right we can find the "Capela do Fundador", the Founder's Chapel, designed by the Catalan architect Huguet and built one year after the death of King John I in 1834. The chapel is used as a mausoleum dedicated to the Portuguese Kings.

In the centre you can find the tomb of Sir John and Phillipa of House Lancaster. The design of the tomb is due to the fact that the King wears complete armour, surely as a symbol of his military power, legitimised by the victory in Aljubarrota.

On the south wall you can find some small arcs where the tombs of their four children lie: Peter, Henry, John and Ferdinand. I already mentioned Henry "the Navigator" when we learnt about the history of the Convent of Christ.

From the church we pass the monastery itself, it has two cloisters, one more simple and the other most beautiful. Here you can go whichever way you like, I went from the right to the left. The first place I arrived at was the Chapter Room.

The Chapter Room was one of the most important places in religious life as it was where the monk met up and discussed important monastery topics. The architecture of the room is very beautiful, like almost all of the rest of the monastery. Here you can find the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which holds the bodies of unidentified Portuguese soldiers who died in the First World War. I have already mentioned in my previous article, but even inside a monastery, the topic of Portugal's involvement in the First World War is very relevant.

Returning to the main cloister, it was started by Afonso Domingues and finished by Huguet. It highlights Manueline decoration and I love its gardens that are truly precious and a small fountain can be found in the corner of the main cloister.

On the other side of the main cloister, we will find the "Refeitório", the Dining Room, and if my memory is correct, it is used nowadays to hold presents, it is worth entering it as it has some really interesting parts inside.

Next to that, there is a room for the interpretation centre. It was inaugurated in 2012 in an ancient wine cellar used by the monks. Inside it, you can see a small pew with information about the Monastery of Batalha and other corners in Portugal, I think it is one of the only pews that there is in the monastery because it is used to relax and look around.

Next we will pass by the other cloister, Alfonsino, the same as the previous cloister it is in the shape of a square and it was the first cloister constructed in Portugal with two floors. Its style is much simpler, there are individual bedrooms, a library and a work/study area.

And although it can seem like the end of the visit, there is one last place to see. The "Capelas Imperfeitas", "Imperfect Chapels", if you leave the monastery and turn towards your right, you will find an entrance to see this room.

The curious chapels that, like their name indicates, are not finished. They were started in 1434 by Mestre Huguet and were ordered by King Edward I and were intended for both Kings and their descendants. However, the King died prematurely in 1438 which caused an interruption in their construction, leaving them incomplete with 7 chapels.

In 1533, it was reformed by John of Castille (the same from the Convent of Christ) on orders from King John III, but once more the work was not completed. This architect added a touch of Renaissance style to the chapels, they are really quite beautiful with the combination of designs. Here we can find the tombs of Edward I and his wife, Eleanor.

And with this, we have finished our tour through the Monastery of Batalha, it is a gigantic place, unique and beautiful. Without a doubt, any Erasmus student should visit it. That being said, I would love to have this place filled with exhibitions and different things in each of the rooms of the Monastery, like in the Convent of Christ, but in itself it is a work of Portuguese Gothic architecture.

The entry fee is 6 euros, although if you have a student card they will give you a discount of 50%, with which you can save 3 euro, which leaves it at a reasonable price. There are also group discounts and other types as well, and the firs Sunday of each month is free.

The place is open every day from 9am until 17:30, longer in summer until 18:30. The entry time should start half an hour earlier: it is curious that at nine o'clock it is open because most, if not all the other places like this, open at 10 or 10:30.

It is a highlight of the city of Batalha, there is also a museum and a couple of information centres about the battle of Aljubarrota. The museum is inside the city, where the information about the battle is a couple of kilometres outside of the city where the battle actually happened.

The Monastery of Batalha is defnitely a must-see within Portugal, it is close to other great places like the Leiria Castle, the Monastery of Alcobaça, or the Convent of Christ, so it would be a good idea to combine all of these visits into one.