Lisbon - Day 4, Monastery of Alcobaca

Today - we are joined by our new guide Filipe Duarte from A Friend in Portugal (http://www.afriendinportugal.com) to visit several UNESCO World Heritage sites. Filipe is a local and lives outside of Lisbon near Evora (which we will see later in the week). His tours include transportation in his private sedan (a must for out of town day trips). We hired him for three full days to tour some areas outside of Lisbon. 

This tour starts in Alcobaca for Monastic tour to see the monastery which began construction in 1178. It is a fantastic structure (www.mosteiroalcobaca.pt) and filled with interesting artifacts. Watch for the small gift shop that has some great free cultural booklets about the sites around the country. We loved them.

During our visit - the monastery was also hosting to a modern art exhibit. 

Today adventures are all about monastic sites in the area.

Nave

Tomb of King Pedro

Tomb of Ines de Castro

High Altar

Conclusions Room

Cloister of Silence

Monks' Room

Kitchen 

Part of the river was redirected to bring running water into the monastery

Statues made of terra-cotta 

Refectory with readers pulpit

Entrance