Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Turismo
( 262 582 377;
www.rt-leiriafatima.pt
; Rua 16 de Outubro 7; 10am-1pm & 2-6pm Oct-Apr,
10am-1pm & 3-7pm May-Sep)
Across the square from the monastery, this provides assistance in
multiple languages.
Getting There & Away
Coming from Leiria it's possible to see both Batalha and Alcobaça in a single, carefully
timed day. All buses run less frequently on weekends. Destinations include Batalha
(€3.15, 30 minutes, every hour or two), Lisbon (€11.20, two hours, six per weekday),
Leiria (€3.55, 50 minutes, six per weekday) and Nazaré (€2.20, 20 minutes, every hour or
two).
TOP OF CHAPTER
Batalha
POP 8500 / ELEV 120M
Among the supreme achievements of Manueline architecture, Batalha's monastery trans-
ports visitors to another world, where solid rock has been carved into forms as delicate as
snowflakes and as pliable as twisted rope.
MULTI-MONASTERY TICKET
If you're planning to visit the monasteries at Alcobaça and Batalha, as well as the Convento de Cristo in Tomar,
you can get (from any one of them) a combined ticket for €15 (a saving of €3) that will let you in to all three and
is valid for a week.
Sights
Mosteiro de Santa
Maria da Vitória
( 244 765 497;
www.mosteirobatalha.pt
;
church free, rest adult/child €6/free, with Alcobaça and Tomar €15;
9am-6.30pm Apr-Sep, 9am-5.30pm Oct-Mar)
This extraordinary abbey was built to commemorate
the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota (fought just south of here). Most of the monument was
completed by 1434 in Flamboyant Gothic, but Manueline exuberance steals the show,
thanks to additions made in the 15th and 16th centuries.
History
MONASTERY
