The monastery was populated by monks of the Order of Saint Jerome.
Their spiritual job was to give guidance to sailors and pray for the king's soul.
This style of architecture became known as "Manueline," a style that served to glorify the great "discoveries" of the age.
The cloisters are magnificent, with each column differently carved with coils of rope,
sea monsters, coral, and other sea motifs, evocative of that time of world exploration at sea.