Alcobaça

We are now in Portugal and have based ourselves in a campsite on the outskirts of Nazaré, 80 miles north of Lisbon.

This central region of Portugal is known as the Estremadura & Ribatejo area. It has beaches, vineyards, castles and historic villages aplenty. It is also home to three magnificent Unesco World Heritage monasteries and we visited two of them.

Just 10 miles from us is the town of Alcobaça, a pretty town and home to the 12th century, Santa Maria Monestary. Behind the imposing baroque facade is a contrasting plain interior with high arches. The monestary was founded by Alfonso Henriques, first king of Portugal and the estate became one of the richest and most powerful in the country, so much so that by the 18th century, the monks there had a reputation for their decadence. No wonder the grand, elaborately tiled kitchen was described as 'the most distinguished temple of gluttony in all of Europe' by William Beckford. The cooking area was immense with a huge chimney above and two separate cooking areas to either side. Marble sinks ran the lengths of the walls and it even had a water channel built through the middle to divert wild fish right into the kitchen!

In the Kings Room, statues of virtually all the Kings of Portugal line the walls above ceramic tiles depicting the history of the monestary's construction.

But what caught our eyes most was the intricate and elaborate tombs of Dom Pedro and Dona Inês de Castro and their tragic love story. Dom Pedro was the son of King Alfonso IV. He fell madly in love with his wife's Spanish lady-in-waiting, Dona Inês de Castro, with whom he had several children. After the death of his wife, his father forbade him from marrying Inês, wary of her Spanish families influence. He did not want Portugal getting involved in Spain's battles. Succuming to pressure from wary nobles, he sanctioned Inês' murder, unaware that the couple had secretly married years earlier. Two years later, when Dom Pedro succeeded to the throne, he took his revenge by ripping out and eating the hearts of the murderers. He then exhumed and crowned Inês' body and ordered the Court to pay homage to his dead queen by kissing her hand.

The tombs lie facing one another across the nave so that when they come back to life, as they raise themselves, it is each other they will see first. A story of love and gruesome revenge.Read more