Caldas da Rainha is best known for its hot springs and pottery. On the main square of the city there is a lively daily market where one finds vegetables, fruit, flowers and ceramics.
Caldas da Rainha is now a large city where the ceramic industries are very important, there is even a large school and workshop. In the city, there is also a Ceramic Museum, located in Quinta Visconde de Sacavém, and a centenarian factory which was named after Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, the man responsible for the development of this activity in the city.
But Caldas da Rainha is not only a ceramic and earthenware city, it is also a thermal city with a reputation going back many years. History says that queen Leonor is the one who discovered the properties of these waters because one day she came across some local people bathing in muddy malodorant water and they told her that is was good for rheumatisms. She thus decided to bathe as well and she was cured, and became convinced of the therapeutic virtues of the waters. Afterwards she had a thermal hospital built. There is a thermal park and a church "Nossa Senhora do Pópulo", with 16th and 17th century azulejos.
If you have a sweet tooth you must walk into a pastryshop and try the local desserts, Cavacas and Beijinhos das Caldas..
During the summer, in July, the National Ceramic Fair takes place and in August the National Fruit Fair.
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Museu de Cerâmica |
Parque D. Carlos |
After Caldas, we continue further on to Alcobaça (25 km).
This city is situated at the confluence of the two river valleys, Alcoa and Baça. It is a rich region in the agricultural point of view and where one finds fruit, vegetables and vineyards. Alcobaça is also known thanks to its ceramic and earthenware that are decorated with a white bottom, and also thanks to its crystal factories, the biggest one situated near the city (Casal da Areia) is called Atlantis - there is there a museum and a shop to be visited.
But, when you visit Alcobaça, be sure to visit its monastery which is situated in the town centre and that dominates the town. It was the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, who
decided to build a magnificent home for the Order of Cistercians to celebrate the conquest of Santarem to the Moors in 1147. It took 76 years to complete the building and another 60 years to complete the main cloister. The monastery was inaugurated in 1252. It was one of the most important Cistercian buildings in Europe and the most important in Portugal. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This originally French order was fundamental for the cultural, social and economic development of the Alcobaça region because the convent received enormous privileges which gave it its great importance.
The building was damaged by the 1755 earthquake and was later restored, that's why one finds Gothic and Baroque style there. The church is vast and very bare and simple, according to the Cistercian style.
In the transept
of the church are the tombs of King Pedro and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro and with it the story of the tragic liaison between Pedro and his ever-lasting love for Inês.
Forced at an early age by royal duty he had to marry Constanza, the Infanta of Castile. She died within a short time of the marriage ceremony and created the opportunity for Dom Pedro to escape with his true love and live in the city of Coimbra. King Afonso IV his father, believing that the family of Inês to be a threat to his own kingdom had her murdered. Shortly after the death of his father Dom Pedro declared that he had married Inês in a prior secret ceremony in Bragança, promptly taking revenge on the killers in a very gruesome manner and exhumed her body. He presented the embalmed corpse at court with a crown on her head and demanded that all his courtiers kneel and individually pay homage to her decomposed hand. Today, their ornate tombs face each other so that on Judgment Day his first sight would be of his beloved Inês. Cinema, Literature, Theatre, Painting... often used this as a starting point in history. Henri de Montherlant wrote "the Dead Queen" inspired by this story.
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Mosteiro de Alcobaça |
The Royal Tombs |
After having visited the church, one passes through the abbey's buildings: the 14th century "silence" cloister. with one floor added in the 16th century, the monks' dormitory and the kitchen were extended in the 18th century. The king's room is decorated with 18th century azulejos that tell the story of the creation of the monastery, there are also several statues representing several Portuguese Kings.
Open from 9:00 to 17:00 (18h00 during the summer).
In Alcobaça there are also really good pastry-shops, and the famous "Ginginha" (cherry liquor).
