Cloister of King Afonso at the Monastery of Batalha
The monastery of Batalha is one of the most important gothic sites in Portugal. It is also an impressive showcase of gothic and Manueline architectures. I was getting used to the over the top design of the church and the Royal Cloister that I was expecting to run into another cloister here. The cloister of King Afonso is yet another cloister within the monastery grounds but it might as well be found in a totally different place. What I meant by that was that the design and feel of the cloister of King Afonso feels out of place within the monastery of Batalha.
Garden at the Cloister of King Afonso at the Monastery of Batalha
While the architects had a field day designing a very flamboyant structure, the cloister of King Afonso has a much more subdued design. It was still gothic but I probably won’t be able to describe it as flamboyant by any measure. It suddenly felt that this was a rather ordinary cloister compared to what I have seen so far. I don’t have any information as to why this cloister was so different. I guess it just adds to the overall character of the monastery which incorporates various designs. This is probably not a surprise since there were multiple architects over the course of the construction of the monastery.
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