Day 11 - Jun 11, 2018 Alcobaca, Batalha, Fatima, & Tomar, Portugal

We had a leisurely breakfast in the monastery this morning before heading south to visit several very important monuments along the way.  First stop is Alcobaca which Mosteiro de Alcobaca is one of earliest gothic medieval churches in Portugal.  There is a Romeo & Juliet love story involved with this monastery:  Crown prince Pedro I loved his mistress, Ines de Castro, but she was ordered killed by his father, King Afonso IV.  After he became king, King Pedro I built two magnificent tombs, one for his beloved mistress and one for him and both are lying side by side inside the church!

Next stop is nearby Batalha and its magnificent and jar-dropping Mosteiro da Batalha, literally the Monastery of the Battle.  In 1385, King John I built this church to fulfill his promise and commemorate the victory over the Castilians (Spanish) in the Battle of Aljubarrota which ensure Portugal's independence from Spain.  It's therefore one of the most important sites for Portugese independence.  The scale of this building is even grander than the pictures we saw in books!  It's huge and more beautiful and we saw surprisingly few tourists here (or Alcobaca).

We were on our way to our final stop, Tomar, when we decided to detour to nearby Fatima.  We wanted to see why many Fatima is featured on many tour groups' itinerary.  The answer came quickly.  Fatima is where the mega church, Santuário de Fátima, is located.  It's fame came from the sightings (apparitions) of Virgin Mary on 1916 by three children on three occasions.  Since then, pilgrims have come from all over the world to worship here.  The whole mega church is well organized with multiple parking lots, gigantic square (reminded us of St. Peter's Square), and filled with burning incense which you can buy by weight and size!  Lots of people were walking on their knees for penance around the square.  I was actually quite saddened by this as so many people's faith are misplaced on human rather than on Jesus.  The image of Mary dominates the whole place.  On the way in, we also saw organized shops for tourist buses and it may explain why Fatima is on many tour groups' circuits but not the other towns with better attractions.

Our last stop is Tomar, a very picturesque town by the river Nabao.  It's star attraction is Convento de Cristo, a huge castle with a monastery inside.  We walked along the old castle wall and enjoyed the fantastic views of the town below.  The place was again almost deserted.  The old town is very pretty, especially the town square with the tiled floor and its scenic church.  We finished our day with a fancy dinner on the second floor with a window seat overlooking the street below!