The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Batalha

The magnificent entrance portico of the Igreja de Santa Maria da Vitória is unique in the history of Portuguese art, a work by the Master Huguet (1402–1438). It features an elaborate iconographic ensemble comparable only to the great porticoes of European cathedrals: six apostles on each side, virgins, martyrs, popes, monks, angel figures, God, and the four evangelists...

The church is a three-aisled basilica in the shape of a Latin cross with eight bays and a single-nave transept. Upon entering the Church of Santa Maria da Vitória through the main portal, it is hard to miss the strong impression of majesty and grandeur conveyed by its interior. This grandeur (over 80 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 32.5 meters high) is understandably due to the ambitious project of King John I: a monumental building project that expressed the assertion of his power and the meaning of the monastery as a royal pantheon rather than a monastic vocation, especially since the Dominican community was never large enough to justify such a grandeur. The two-story choir with its stained-glass windows, the oldest of which date from the early 16th century, represents an innovation in Portuguese Gothic architecture. http://www.mosteirobatalha.gov.pt/pt/index.php?s=white&pid=227&identificador=bt1313_pt

The Royal Cloister (Claustro Real), located on the north side of the church, measures 50 x 50 meters. The north and west wings were designed by Afonso Domingues, the south and east wings by Huguet; each has seven bays. These are separated by buttresses terminating in pointed pinnacles. Despite the different styles of the two architects, it forms a harmonious whole. At the beginning of the 16th century, the delicate tracery was added to the arcade arches. Resting on slender columns, it features branches and garlands and is one of the earliest examples of Manueline architecture, named after King Manuel I, a Portuguese special form of Late Gothic. In the center of the tracery-decorated arches is a small armillary sphere, the personal symbol of King Manuel I. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosteiro_da_Batalha

Before exiting the monastery is another cloister ('Claustro de D. Afonso V.'), two-story and 43 meters long. Here, several rooms were used for everyday purposes: a kitchen, pantry, firewood and olive oil storage, a wine press, and simple bathrooms. The upper floor housed bedrooms, the library, and a writing room.

The Chapel of the Founders is located to the right of the main facade. It was not included in the original plan of the monastery and owes its existence to the decision of King John I to create a family pantheon. Construction was completed around 1433/34. It is a space of great historical and artistic significance. Originally quadrangular in plan, it transforms in the center into an octagon, covered by a complex star vault that becomes a true canopy glorifying King John I and Queen Philippa of Lancaster, who are buried in a large tomb. On the lid of this largest Gothic arch of the 15th century in Portugal, the two recumbent kings are depicted hand in hand, covered by canopies with their coats of arms. On the back wall, on the south side, are the tombs of the children of these kings from the second quarter of the 15th century, the "famous generation", as Camões called them. From right to left: tomb of Infante and Regent Dom Pedro and his wife Isabel de Urgel, Duchess of Coimbra; of Henry the Navigator and Master of the Order of Christ (with a recumbent statue); of Infante Dom João, Master of the Order of Santiago, and his wife Isabel; of King Ferdinand, Master of the Order of Aviz, who died a saint during the captivity of Fez. The three tomb chests commissioned by King Charles I date from the early 20th century and are located on the west side of the chapel. Here are buried, from left to right: King Afonso V, grandson of John I; King John II, son of Afonso V; and finally Crown Prince Afonso, son of John II, who died prematurely in 1491 in a riding accident in the Santarém region.

After the revolution of 1383, Portugal found itself in a difficult conflict with the neighboring Kingdom of Castile. The battle was decided in 1385 when the Castilian and Portuguese armies clashed at the Battle of Aljubarrota. The Castilians outnumbered and were better armed. As a military leader, Nuno Álvares Pereira loyally stood by his patron, John of Avis. The Portuguese achieved a resounding victory, which is attributed in particular to the strategic genius of Nuno Álvares Pereira. With this victory, the Castilian claims to Portugal were permanently repelled. John of Avis was proclaimed king by the Cortes, as John I of Portugal, thus establishing the second Portuguese dynasty, the House of Avis. Nuno Álvares Pereira became a national hero, and the grateful king showered him with honors and material possessions.

Behind the transept of the church, in line with the choir, is the Pantheon of King Duarte, commonly known as the "Unfinished Chapels." It is structured in the form of an octagonal plan with an entrance on one axis and seven radiating chapels separated by small triangular sections. The construction of this chapel, initiated by King Duarte, began around 1434, the first year of his reign. The death of King Duarte in 1438 prevented the completion of the new funerary chapel, the construction of which had been driven by King Duarte's consistent personal and familial attitude. In the Duarte Pantheon, the double tomb of King Duarte and Queen Leonor was not housed here in the Axis Chapel until the 1940s, in what may have been a definitive reunion with history.

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