Description Alcobaça

Alcobaça DmTE (European Portuguese: [a?ku?βas?]) is a Portuguese city in the district of Leiria, located in the historic province of Estremadura and integrating the Intermunicipal Community of the West in the Centro region, with about 7 000 inhabitants in its central core.

However, the urban area covers about 18,000 inhabitants distributed by the parishes of Alcobaça and Vestiaria and by the parishes of Aljubarrota, Maiorga, Évora de Alcobaça [citation needed]. It was elevated to city status in 1995. It is famous for the existence of the Royal Abbey of the Monastery of Alcobaça, which has become a monument of strong tourist attraction.

Alcobaça is located in the valleys of the rivers Alcoa and Baça, which according to some writers gave it its name. According to other interpretations it was the name of this place of Arab origin that was divided to baptize the two rivers.

Alcobaça owes its fame and development to the Monastery or Royal Abbey of Santa Maria, founded in 1153 by the Cistercian Order, which began to be built in 1178, on land donated to Friar Bernardo de Claraval, founder of the Cistercian Order, by the 1st King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, in fulfillment of a vote made after the Christian Reconquest of Santarém, which was in the possession of the Moors until 1147.

The Monastery had a vast domain, which was also known as "coutos" de Alcobaça, where the Cistercian Order systematized the settlement, organizing villages and farms and boosted agriculture, introducing new techniques and agricultural products, characteristics that have endured over time. today this region is one of the main fruit producers in Portugal.

Built following the model of the Abbey of Claraval, the mother house of the Cistercian Order in France, the Monastery of Alcobaça is a beautiful monument classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The gastronomy and sweets were greatly influenced by the Monasteries and convents of the Cistercian Order existing in the region, joining that of Alcobaça, the female Monastery of Cós and the Convent of Capuchos in Évora de Alcobaça. The best known sweet is the Pão de Ló which took its name from the place where it is made - Alfeizerão.

Also of note is the crystal of excellent quality, as well as pottery and ceramics.