THE MONASTERY OF BATALHA

Close to the site where the Batalha Monastery stands, on August 14, 1385, a decisive event for the consolidation of the Portuguese nation took place: D. João, Mestre de Avis and future king of Portugal, defeated the Castilian armies in the Battle of Aljubarrota. This victory ended a dynastic crisis that had been going on since 1383, when King Fernando died, whose only daughter was married to the king of Castile, pretender to the throne of Portugal. 

D. João dedicated the monastery to the Virgin Mary, who had invoked her to intercede for his triumph, and donated it to the Dominican Order, to which his confessor belonged. This was the reason for the birth of a work whose construction would last for almost two centuries and which resulted in one of the most fascinating Gothic monuments in the Iberian Peninsula. 

Its architectural value and historical significance motivated the monument's classification as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983.

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