Claustro Real

Mosteiro da Batalha - Batalha Monastery. Claustro Real - Cloister of João I. Begun in 1386 in Gothic and finished in 1515 in the Manueline style by Mateus Fernandes. "The first or Royal Cloisters (Clauslro Real; entr. from the church or on the E. side) are very picturesque. To the S. and S.E. the church and tower rise above the arcades enclosing the garden-like court, and to the E. is the chapter-house; in the N.W. angle is a well-house. Th Gothic style of Portugal is here seen in all its phases, from the simplest forms to the most extravagantly fantastic. Each walk of the cloisters is 182 ft long and opens on the court in seven arches, each subdivided by 3-5 slender columns. The upper part of the arches is filled with tracery of well-nigh Oriental intricacy".--Baedeker 1913. Monastery of Batalha UNESCO World Heritage Site. IMG_7982p1