Easy hikes and walks around Cortes

Thanks for sharing.🙏

Thanks for sharing the photos.🙏

Impressive and interesting topics

night tour

The magnificent entrance portico of the Igreja de Santa Maria da Vitória is unique in the history of Portuguese art, a work by the Master Huguet (1402–1438). It features an elaborate iconographic ensemble comparable only to the great porticoes of European cathedrals: six apostles on each side, virgins, martyrs, popes, monks, angel figures, God, and the four evangelists...

The church is a three-aisled basilica in the shape of a Latin cross with eight bays and a single-nave transept. Upon entering the Church of Santa Maria da Vitória through the main portal, it is hard to miss the strong impression of majesty and grandeur conveyed by its interior. This grandeur (over 80 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 32.5 meters high) is understandably due to the ambitious project of King John I: a monumental building project that expressed the assertion of his power and the meaning of the monastery as a royal pantheon rather than a monastic vocation, especially since the Dominican community was never large enough to justify such a grandeur. The two-story choir with its stained-glass windows, the oldest of which date from the early 16th century, represents an innovation in Portuguese Gothic architecture. http://www.mosteirobatalha.gov.pt/pt/index.php?s=white&pid=227&identificador=bt1313_pt

The Royal Cloister (Claustro Real), located on the north side of the church, measures 50 x 50 meters. The north and west wings were designed by Afonso Domingues, the south and east wings by Huguet; each has seven bays. These are separated by buttresses terminating in pointed pinnacles. Despite the different styles of the two architects, it forms a harmonious whole. At the beginning of the 16th century, the delicate tracery was added to the arcade arches. Resting on slender columns, it features branches and garlands and is one of the earliest examples of Manueline architecture, named after King Manuel I, a Portuguese special form of Late Gothic. In the center of the tracery-decorated arches is a small armillary sphere, the personal symbol of King Manuel I. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosteiro_da_Batalha

Before exiting the monastery is another cloister ('Claustro de D. Afonso V.'), two-story and 43 meters long. Here, several rooms were used for everyday purposes: a kitchen, pantry, firewood and olive oil storage, a wine press, and simple bathrooms. The upper floor housed bedrooms, the library, and a writing room.