Abbey-Background
Mosteiro de Santa Maria, Praça do 25 de Abril, Alcobaça 2460-018
Phone: +351 262 505 120 - Fax: +351 262 505 130
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Portugal’s largest church is in the Mosteiro de Santa Maria, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989 and is regarded as one of the finest and most impressive examples of Cistercian Gothic Architecture in Europe. Following King Afonso Henriques’ defeat of the Moors at Santarém in 1147, he fulfilled his vow to build a church for the Cistercians and work commenced in 1178; the monks took occupation in 1223. The monastery was further endowed through the ages by other monarchs until the banning of monastic orders in 1834, when the monks were obliged to leave.
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