Why this ride
From Algés it runs 382 km to Algés; allow about 5 h 07 of riding. It goes by way of Monastery of Alcobaça, Convent of Christ in Tomar and back through Monastery of Alcobaça. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monastery of the Hieronymites and Convent of Christ in Tomar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 382 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 07
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Monastery of the Hieronymites
The Hieronymites were a monastic order that followed Saint Jerome, and King Manuel I gave them a very grand home. He ordered the monastery built on the riverbank at Belém in 1501, on the site of a small chapel founded by Henry the Navigator, to serve as a royal pantheon and a place where monks would pray for sailors and for the king's soul, and it took most of a century to complete. The architects João de Castilho and Diogo de Boitaca worked in the Manueline style, and the south portal, a mass of carved saints and canopies, and the cloister, with its twisting columns and nautical motifs, are among the finest pieces of late Gothic in Europe.
Read the complete Monastery of the Hieronymites write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monastery of the Hieronymites is where the day begins. Next is Monastery of Alcobaça.
2. 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
Monastery of Alcobaça comes up about 128 km into the recorded legs. Next is Convent of Christ in Tomar.
3. 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
about 193 km into the recorded legs you reach Convent of Christ in Tomar. Next is back through Monastery of Alcobaça.
4. back through Monastery of Alcobaça
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Monastery of Alcobaça, late in the day. Next is Monastery of the Hieronymites.
5. Monastery of the Hieronymites
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of the Hieronymites write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Monastery of the Hieronymites. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Monastery of the Hieronymites to Monastery of Alcobaça
Monastery of the Hieronymites → Monastery of Alcobaça is 128 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Monastery of Alcobaça to Convent of Christ in Tomar
Monastery of Alcobaça → Convent of Christ in Tomar is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Convent of Christ in Tomar to back through Monastery of Alcobaça
Convent of Christ in Tomar → back through Monastery of Alcobaça is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monastery of Alcobaça to Monastery of the Hieronymites
back through Monastery of Alcobaça → Monastery of the Hieronymites is 126 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.