Monument classified as UNESCO World Heritage

Built in the XIV/XV century to commemorate the victory of the 6.000 men of the Portuguese army, against the 32.000 Spanish soldiers in one of their many invasion attempts, the Battle Monastery is the most glorious example of the Gothic architecture in Portugal.

The story tells that in the 1383-1385 crisis, when the Spanish army with their king was marching to Lisbon to claim the throne they encountered a small Portuguese army. Laughing of such small force they’ve decided to pass around because they didn't want to be delayed in their conquest. The Portuguese seeing that the only chance to keep the independence was to fight and win, started to insult the Spanish calling them cowards. It had its result as the Spanish decided to turn back to teach the Portuguese a lesson...

Right from the start the battle was a catastrophe to the Spanish. When their cavalry charged, the knights started to fall into the many traps built in the battle camp. Those who escaped reached the Portuguese army in a disordered formation and tried to pull back. But while some were trying to get back, large numbers of Spanish knights not understanding what was happening continued to charge and push all in their front against the Portuguese spears! More, the Portuguese army chose a very narrow space to fight and the long spears of the Spanish knights were not manoeuvrable, so they started to break them in half to make them shorter. The problem was that when the broken piece was thrown to the ground the horses tripped in them and fell...

Soon it became a catastrophe to the Spanish and their king was forced run to Spain barely escaping the Portuguese persecuting force. This victory kept Portugal safe for the next 200 years...