At the beginning of nationality, the conquest of territory from the Moors was ensured, among others, by the Cistercian order, which began here, still with a Romanesque base, and ended in Alcobaça with a pure Gothic.

Compared with his “Cistercian brother”, in Alcobaça, the state of degradation of everything besides the church is sad.

However, great recovery efforts are being made, and something interesting can be seen in what remains of the monastery’s immensity.

Started to build in 1154, closely linked to the foundation of Portugal, this monastery reached its apogee in the 17th and 18th centuries, being abandoned during the liberal revolution that extinguished the monastic orders in 1834.

The subsequent degradation and dilapidation was halted in 2009 when it was declared a national monument and began to be the subject of restoration work.

Outside the usual tourist routes, and with paths of poor quality, it is still an interesting visit, which is highly recommended.

Currently, only the church has been recovered, but the attached ruins show the enormous size of the convent (and the enormous cost of an eventual recovery).