Alcobaça Tours, Attractions & Things to Do

About Alcobaça

This city along Portugal's Atlantic coast is most famous as the home to the country's largest church and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Alcobaça Monastery. Founded in the 12th century by Portugal's first king, Alfonso I, the building is a masterpiece of Cistercian Gothic architecture. The church also houses the tombs of two tragic lovers, Pedro and Ines, which face each other so that on Judgment Day they will reunite. While in the city, be sure to stop at the National Wine Museum, and take a quick trip west to visit the nearby fishing village of Nazare.

Attractions around Alcobaça

Sanctuary of Fatima

This sacred site in Fatima, Portugal is said to have been where apparitions of the Virgin Mary appeared to three children between May 13 and October 13, 1917. The Sanctuary of Fatima is a group of many buildings including the Chapel of Apparitions, Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Perpetual Adoration Chapel, The Big Holmoak, Monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and House of Our Lady Dolours. There also is a piece of the Berlin Wall at the sanctuary as many believe that prayer was part of the reason it was torn down. The Sanctuary of Fatima, also called the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, is the destination of many Roman Catholic pilgrimages, especially between May 13 and Oct. 13. It is estimated that four million people visit the site every year.