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Published: September 22nd 2009
September 14 2009
Batalha, Alcobaca and Obidos.
We had to catch the bus to the towns of Batalha and then catch a bus back from there to Alcobaca and of course back to Nazare. The Stellermans are brilliant travellers and Haike is very resourceful as far as her research is concerned so all we had to do was basically sit back, relax and be guided as to when and where to be, too easy!!.
We caught the bus from the marina into Nazare town, headed to the local markets which open every day from early in the morning to about 1.00pm and where you can buy every form of fresh food available in this part of the world from fruit and veg, seafood and all forms of fresh and cured meats. Mangoes from Venezuela were highly recommended by the darling old lady at the fruit stall and a couple of those plus some hot fresh bread rolls, some very nice ham and we were set for the day.
We went to Batalha which translates to ‘Battle Abbey’ and to quote from the guide book, ‘Is a masterpiece of Gothic Architecture that has become a symbol of Portuguese history
and of independence of Spain.’
The Abbey of the battle was built to celebrate the Portuguese Victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. The Portuguese King, Joao 1 and his wife Phillipa of Lancaster are buried there as well as their four sons, including Henry the Navigator. The chapel with their tombs is simply incredible. I never, ever fail to marvel and wonder at the workmanship that was able to be done so many hundreds of years ago, some of which, in this Abbey and perhaps in a lot of other buildings of the time, was deemed so dangerous that only those who were in prison on ‘death row’ were sent up into the dizzying heights to try and complete the ceilings.
We took in the tombs, the alter and surrounding monastery and cloisters which also housed the Tomb of two of Portugal’s unknown soldiers, one from the first world war and the second from the war in Africa. The tombs are permanently looked over by military guards and the nearby museum is dedicated to the unknown soldiers and other Portuguese military history.
The Abbey also features an uncompleted section simply referred to
as the unfinished chapel, adjacent to the main alter and it looks like all that remained to be done was to stick a roof on it, simple as that may seem to us, I am sure that could have taken years and years of work to do and for reasons unknown to me, it simply was not done. The unfinished chapel was commenced by King Jiao’s eldest son, Dom Duarte as a Royal mausoleum and contains the tombs of Duarte and his queen, Leanor of Aragon.
Our schedule as far as being able to catch connecting buses back to Alcobaca (and back to Nazare) was limited to two afternoon buses so we had to make sure we didn’t miss either of those. Waiting for the bus gave us a chance to have our lunch and savour the exquisite flavours of the mangoes.
Alcobaca is home to the largest Church in Portugal and according the guide books is a supreme example of Gothic Architecture. The Church, Mosteiro de Santa Maria was founded by Alfonso Henriques in 1153f to give thanks for the victory over the Moors at Santarem.
The tombs of Dom Pedro 1 and Ines de Castro
face one another across the aisle and their story is worth a mention. According to history, Dom Pedro the first was married to Constanza of Castille and her lady in waiting was Ines de Castro. Dom Pedro’s father, Afonso IV found out that Dom Pedro and Ines de Castro were having an affair and he had her banished from the Court in an attempt to end it.
Well, after Constanza died, Ines returned to live with Dom Pedro at nearby Coimbra but Afonso IV was not finished yet and had Ines murdered. Two years later, when Dom Pedro assumed the crown, he identified who were the killers of his lover and he had their hearts ripped from their chest and proceeded to eat them. He also revealed that he and Ines had secretly wed at Braganca and had her corpse exhumed and he ordered the Court to pay homage to their dead Queen by kissing her decomposed hand.
Well being armed with those little spicy tid bits of information, we of coursed headed to their tombs which face each other as on Dom Pedro’s orders; he wanted them buried foot to foot so that they could feast their
eyes on one another when they rose on the day of Judgement.
The monastery was home to some 999 monks and friars and after we had taken in all we could in the main church, we headed into the monastery through the Sala dos Reis which houses statues of Portuguese Kings, carved by the resident monks. The Claustro de Silencio which I think translates to Cloisters of Silence takes centre stage along with a Renaissance Lavobo where the monks would wash their hands before heading into the refectory.
The kitchen of the monastery is absolutely amazing with massive conical chimneys taking up huge sections of space, along with what we thought may have been bath tubs and a stream that ran right through the middle of it, not only providing fresh water for cooking and washing but also a source of fresh fish that became trapped in a specially designed area that to us looked like a giant Jacuzzi.
The monastery and its inhabitants were famed for their levels of gluttony and evidently extravagant banquets were the regular order of the day. Their simple ‘Jenny Craig’ method of curtailing obesity was to install a rather thin door
into the refectory that the monks had to pass through. If they couldn’t fit, they had to go and fast until they could!!
Our trip back to our floating home was filled with chatter about where we had been and what we had seen and the discussions lasted till we went our separate ways to our respective floating homes. The kids were tired as and early dinner and bed was the order of the day.
Our trip to Obidos was another full day’s trip away from the boat, having to catch three buses to get there. We did the usual market trip at first and arrived at Obidos just before lunch. Obidos is a walled town of whitewashed houses, buildings and churches, originally constructed by the Romans. The Portuguese King, Dom Dinis gave the town to his wife, Queen Isabel of Aragon as a wedding gift in 1282 and this tradition continued for the next 600 years. We took to the ramparts and walked half way around the walls before reaching the Castle which was converted to a Royal Palace in the 16th Century but now houses one of Portugal’s finest pousadas which I think translates to a
form of guesthouse, the Pousada do Castelo which only has 9 rooms. According to the guide book (Thank the Lord for guide books I say) Exuberant tapestries enhance the romantic story book atmosphere in the impeccably restored medieval interior.
We walked through the town, taking in samples of the local liquor, a type of sour cherry brandy. The cherries are picked from local trees and the finished product is really nice, especially when it is served in the little milk chocolate drinking cups they provide. Well a bottle of the liquor has been added to our boat cellar and I am sure having a little tipple will remind us of our day out.
The centre of the town is taken up with Church of Santa Maria and like most churches in the places we have been takes your breath away as you enter. The Church houses some works of a famous Portuguese artist, Josepha de Obidos who died in 1684. In her time of life, young women were destined to either enter the Church or enter into marriage and motherhood. Josepha did neither. Her father was a famed artist and he taught her her skills and while she
did not enter the convent life, she spent much of her time painting artwork that was hung in the Churches of Portugal.
Obidos is a very popular spot on the tourist route and Willem was very happy to have been able to revisit here after is initial visit some 20 years prior. It reminded us, in someway of Dubrovnik with the walled city theme, the ramparts and the tiled roofs of the house. Evidently, the sea use to come right up to the town but due to silting of the harbour mouth hundreds of years ago, the sea now remains some miles away.
Batalha, Alcobaca and Obidos were all beautiful in their own unique way and being able to visit such places is an incredible gift from upstairs that we all appreciate so, so much. These are places that we, that is Debs and I, may never have the chance to see again and I think their memory will live long into our lives.
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