Alta Universitária and Monastery of Alcobaça

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Alta Universitária

   Coimbra's Alta is a hill that holds the city's history in layers, and the Alta Universitária is its crown. Where Roman Aeminium once stood and a Moorish palace later watched over the river, the Portuguese kings built their own palace, which became the university. Today the Paço das Escolas, the courtyard with a view over the Mondego, is where students gather for photographs and where ceremonies take place, and the sound of the bell, long a sign for lessons, still rings out over the rooftops.

   Read the complete Alta Universitária write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Alta Universitária is where the day begins. Next is Convent of Christ in Tomar.

2. 2. Convent of Christ in Tomar

   The Knights Templar chose the hill above Tomar in the twelfth century, building a castle to defend the new kingdom of Portugal against the Moors, and at its heart they raised a round church, the Charola, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. When the Templars were suppressed in the fourteenth century, the Portuguese king transferred their property to a new order, the Order of Christ, which went on to finance much of Portugal's maritime expansion; Henry the Navigator was its governor. Over the centuries, the order added cloisters, chapels and dormitories, and the Convent of Christ became one of the great monuments of Portugal, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1983.

   Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Convent of Christ in Tomar comes up 78 km in. Next is Monastery of Alcobaça.

3. 3. Monastery of Alcobaça

   In 1153, Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, gave a vast estate to the Cistercian monks of Bernard of Clairvaux, and they built here one of the greatest monasteries of medieval Europe. The church of Alcobaça, with its long, soaring nave of pale stone, is austere and beautiful in the Cistercian manner, and the cloisters, dormitory, chapter house and refectory survive almost intact. The kitchen is enormous, with a huge chimney and a stream diverted through it so the monks could catch fish directly. UNESCO listed the monastery in 1989. But the main reason most visitors come is a love story.

   Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   156 km in you reach Monastery of Alcobaça. Next is back through Convent of Christ in Tomar.

4. 4. back through Convent of Christ in Tomar

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Convent of Christ in Tomar, late in the day. Next is Alta Universitária.

5. 5. Alta Universitária

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Alta Universitária write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Alta Universitária. That is the ride.