The Monastery of Batalha was founded to commemorate victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota, fought close to the present site in 1385. It quickly became one of the most important monastic
establishments in Portugal, housing the pantheon of the newly established royal house of Aviz.
Built in European Late Gothic style, and strongly influenced by contemporary Mediterranean architecture, it contains fine examples of the flamboyant decorations of the period and the elegant,
slender lines - clear to see in the Afonso V Cloister - that preceded the formal austerity of the mid-fifteenth century and the new forms of the Renaissance. These are not much in evidence
here, since, after King Manuel's death, his successors lost interest in the building.
There is no finer example of the imaginative exuberance of the architects and sculptors who worked on the Monastery of Batalha than the famous Unfinished Chapels. Here, the complicated stone
lacework has captured the curiosity and romantic imaginings of many generations. Visitors have always been equally fascinated by the fact that, because they were never completed, the chapels
remain open to the sky.
