Alcobaça

Alcobaça grew where the Alcoa and Baça meet, around one of Portugal's great Cistercian monasteries. Founded by Afonso Henriques after the capture of Santarém in 1147, the monastery's church was consecrated in 1262. Its vast Gothic interior became a place of royal burial and a center of learning. The church holds the richly carved tombs of Pedro I and Inês de Castro. Inês was killed on the orders of Pedro's father Afonso IV; after becoming king, Pedro declared that he had secretly married her. The monastery's monks taught and wrote histories, leaving a lasting mark on Portuguese culture. French troops plundered the abbey in 1810, taking much of its library and other treasures.