After a much needed night's sleep (the hotel in Viseu was located between bars and this being the first official college weekend - we were all kept awake until 6am yesterday morning by extremely drunk, loud Portuguese students!) After a filling breakfast, we headed out with Filipe on our journey back to Lisbon.
Our first stop was the town of Tomar. Here we visited the Convento de Cristo, constructed under the order of the fourth grand master of the Knights Templar in the late 12th century. Tomar was the last Templar town to be commissioned for construction. It was also the center of Portuguese overseas expansion in the 15th century. The Convento de Cristo contains a mixture of gothic and Manueline (Portuguese late gothic style of architectural ornamention) features.
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| Convento de Cristo |
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| Fresco inside the chapel |
Elaborate Manueline ornamentation on the facade
Small ornately tiled interior chapel
Rather than fight the masses of Catholic Portuguese families and thousands of tourists that normally flock to Fatima on a Sunday, we instead opted to visit the village of Batalha. The most important site in the village is the Gothic style Monastery of Batalha (Mosteiro da Batalha), or more commonly to the Portuguese - the Monastery of the Battle or the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory (built to commemorate Portugal's victory over Spain in 1385). The Monastery is also the burial church of some of the 15th-Century Portuguese royals.
The ornate structure was built from limestone that has turned yellow over time. On the western side is a statue of general Nuno Álvares Pereira, who defeated the Spainards and later became a monk (the statue depicts his hair is styled like a monk and he has his back to Spain).
Several gargoyle-like sculptures based on the Old Testament including Kings, angels, prophets and saints adorn the walls. The sculptures add a whimsy to the gothic feel of the Monastery!
Founder's Chapel where the tombs of King John I and his family are found
Examples of some of the stained glass found throughout the Monastery
Our final stop of the day was to the medieval village of Óbidos. It is a fortified city and has been declared a national monument. It is considered one of Europe's most romantic villages with its incredibly picturesque cobblestone streets lined with narrow houses and colorful souvenir shops, all safely protected within the 45ft high walls of a 12th century castle. While enjoying wandering the streets, we were able to sample a local liqueur called ginginha (cherry liqueur).
