Batalha means "battle": the town grew up around the monastery that King John I built to fulfil a vow to the Virgin made before the battle of Aljubarrota, fought on 14 August 1385 a few kilometres away. In that battle the Portuguese army, led by the king and the constable Nuno Álvares Pereira and supported by English archers, defeated the far larger army of Castile, securing Portugal's independence and the rise of the Avis dynasty.
The monastery
The monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, took over a century and a half to build, from 1386 to the early sixteenth century, and is the masterpiece of Portuguese Gothic, with English influences. Its golden limestone façade bristles with spires, pinnacles and statues, and the church has soaring naves lit by stained glass.
Next to the entrance is the Founder's Chapel, square with a star-vaulted dome, where John I and Queen Philippa of Lancaster lie, carved hand in hand, with their children, the "illustrious generation", including Henry the Navigator. The royal cloister combines Gothic with Manueline decoration, and the chapter house has a vault almost 20 metres square without central supports, a daring feat for the time: legend says the architect spent a night beneath it to prove it would not collapse. Here is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with two Portuguese soldiers killed in the First World War, watched over by a guard of honour.
The Unfinished Chapels
Behind the church are the Unfinished Chapels, an octagonal mausoleum begun for King Duarte and never completed: the chapels are open to the sky, but the portal and pillars, carved in Manueline style under King Manuel I, are extraordinarily rich.
Surroundings
A few kilometres away, near São Jorge, the Aljubarrota Battle Interpretation Centre reconstructs the battle on the field where it took place. Further south, the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park holds spectacular caves, such as those of Mira de Aire, the largest in Portugal, and dinosaur footprints. Batalha is about 20 minutes from Fátima, Alcobaça and Leiria, and about an hour and a half from Lisbon.