Mosteiro Santa Maria da Vitória, more commonly known as the Batalha Monastery, is a Dominican monastery in the Portuguese town of Batalha, in the District of Leiria, Portugal. It is one of the best and original examples of Late Gothic architecture in Portugal, intermingled with the Manueline style. It amazes the onlooker with its profusion of gables, spires, pinnacles and buttresses. It has become a symbol of national pride.
The monastery was bui...
more
Mosteiro Santa Maria da Vitória, more commonly known as the Batalha Monastery, is a Dominican monastery in the Portuguese town of Batalha, in the District of Leiria, Portugal. It is one of the best and original examples of Late Gothic architecture in Portugal, intermingled with the Manueline style. It amazes the onlooker with its profusion of gables, spires, pinnacles and buttresses. It has become a symbol of national pride.
The monastery was built to thank the Virgin Mary for the Portuguese victory over the Castilians in the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, fulfilling a promise of King D. João I. The battle put an end to the 1383-1385 crisis.
The monastery took two centuries to build, starting in 1386 and ending circa 1517, spanning the reign of seven kings. It took the efforts of fifteen architects (Mestre das Obras da Batalha), but for seven of them the title was no more than an honorary title bestowed on them. The construction required an enormous effort, using extraordinary...
less
