Batalha - in memory of a battle

The monastery is dedicated to Our Lady of the Victory on account of the vow made by King João I on the eve of the Assumption Feast. Here the Virgin Mary is crowned by Christ as Queen of Heaven.

Once the church took long to be achieved (around 50 years) its construction was lead by two different masters: first the Portuguese Afonso Domingues and then Huguet who was certainly French.

Monumental as no other before in Portugal this portal follows however a national tradition going back to the 13th century: geometrically decorated archivolts are topped by a triangular gable.

The west portal was one of the latest parts of the church to be finished and witnesses for the earlier education of the architect in France. The tympanum however relies on an Iberian tradition.

When the church was nearing conclusion, King João I decided to have his family mausoleum built next to it. This is one of the very first flamboyant gothic buildings in the Iberian Peninsula.

The tomb of King João I and Queen Philippa of Lancaster, in the centre of the chapel, displays their effigies, hand in hand, the most crucial matrimonial gesture.

Star-shaped vaults with three rib sprouts per angle and nine keystones are a clear sign of the stay of Huguet in the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarra before reaching Batalha.

The chapter house was started in the reign of João I and finished only in the time of his grandson, Afonso V. A legend tells that the vault fell twice with great detriment to workers.

The Royal Cloister was started by Afonso Domingues and finished by Huguet who essentially respected the first master's plans. Exuberant window tracery was later introduced by Mateus Fernandes.

During the reign of King Manuel I the Royal Cloister was nobilitated with exquisite carvings that fill the upper third of the windows. They are among the earliest so-called manueline art works.

The wash-hand basin is situated near the refectory and still uses the primitive water supply. Hand washing before meals was an important ritual but this place also served the friars' personal hygiene.

A new cloister was added to the monastery in the reign of Afonso V. It was built in a sober style that is shared by other royal and princely buildings of the period in Portugal.

Upstairs were installed the friars and novices' cells as well as the library and archives. Groundfloor rooms included a larder, a firewood stock, the olive oil deposit, a wine press and workshops.

King Duarte, the monastery founder's son, ordered his own funerary chapel but died soon after. The building was erected by his successors with many interruptions and eventually left unfinished in 1533.

The portal of the Unfinished Chapels is one of Mateus Fernandes' major achievements for the merging of complex geometric and natural shapes into a so to say sole monumental sculpture.