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On 15 January 2025, this project was nominated for the World Monuments Fund Watch Program, being one of 25 selected from more than 200 applications from all over the world, which clearly demonstrates the relevance, on a universal scale, of this unique heritage.

This exhibition marks the 1st anniversary of this important nomination, bringing to Alcobaça for the FIRST TIME (after the extinction of religious orders, in 1834), two fired-clay sculptures produced in this monastery but now part of the collection of the National Museum of Ancient Art. These sculptures represent two angels from the monastery's former Nativity scene and an Archangel Saint Michael, and now return "home", where they can be appreciated alongside the five surviving terracotta sculptural groups, totaling nearly two hundred pieces in this monument's collection.

The exhibition is open to the public in the Parlatorium of the Monastery of Alcobaça until 11 June 2026.

Opened on 16 January, the exhibition “Angels... Visiting the Family!” is the result of a collaboration between the Monastery of Alcobaça and the National Museum of Ancient Art in the context of implementing the Project for the Safeguarding of the Terracotta Sculptures of the Monastery of Alcobaça.

Exhibition “Angels... Visiting the Family!”

The Chapter Hall of the Monastery of Alcobaça will once again host two concerts included in the prestigious International Accordion Week, promoted by the National Accordion Association, in partnership with Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, EPE / Monastery of Alcobaça. Programme to be announced shortly.

29th International Accordion Week - Concerts at the Monastery of Alcobaça

International Colloquium
- Matter, Form, Color: 50 years of conservation and restoration on the sculpture of the Monastery of Alcobaça

Mission
Within the framework of the global mission and strategy of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E.P.E., and as the managing entity of a Property inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Monastery of Alcobaça has the mission of preserving, transmitting and communicating the Outstanding Universal Value that this Property represents for Humanity, now and in the future.

Vision
The Monastery of Alcobaça should be a public service of excellence and an international reference space for the management of Cistercian sites and within the universe of UNESCO Good Practices.

A
Strategic goals
- Improve the functioning of the Monastery of Alcobaça as a Public Service, within a policy of Transparency and Integrity.
- Strengthen the connection between the Community and the monument, with a strong commitment to awareness and education for Heritage and Citizenship.
- Establish the Monastery of Alcobaça as a center for scientific dissemination of the History and Heritage of the Cistercian Order.
- Ensure the conservation of immovable, integrated and movable heritage, as well as the continuous improvement of visitor conditions (accessibility, interpretation and safety).
- Develop communication of Outstanding Universal Value, promote cultural activation through high-quality events, and strengthen the monument as a privileged space for artistic creation.
- Invest in the internationalization of the Monastery of Alcobaça, in terms of dissemination and promotion, through the development of international cooperation projects.

Mission and Strategic goals

Since 1989

Founded by Portugal's first King, D. Afonso Henriques, in 1153, through a donation to Bernard of Clairvaux (France), the Monastery of Alcobaça is one of the largest and best-preserved Cistercian monasteries in all of Europe, and was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1989.

World Heritage of Humanity

Within the framework of the global mission and strategy of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E.P.E., and as the managing entity of a Property inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Monastery of Alcobaça has the mission of preserving, transmitting and communicating the Outstanding Universal Value that this Property represents for Humanity, now and in the future.

Mission

The Monastery of Alcobaça should be a public service of excellence and an international reference space for the management of Cistercian sites and within the universe of UNESCO Good Practices.

Vision

- Improve the functioning of the Monastery of Alcobaça as a Public Service, within a policy of Transparency and Integrity.

- Strengthen the connection between the Community and the monument, with a strong commitment to awareness and education for Heritage and Citizenship.

- Establish the Monastery of Alcobaça as a center for scientific dissemination of the History and Heritage of the Cistercian Order.

- Ensure the conservation of immovable, integrated and movable heritage, as well as the continuous improvement of visitor conditions (accessibility, interpretation and safety).

- Develop communication of Outstanding Universal Value, promote cultural activation through high-quality events, and strengthen the monument as a privileged space for artistic creation.

- Invest in the internationalization of the Monastery of Alcobaça, in terms of dissemination and promotion, through the development of international cooperation projects.

Strategic goals

In addition to a selection of items related to the monument and the surrounding region, the Monastery of Alcobaça shop presents a highly varied set of publications on History and Heritage. These proposals are designed for different audiences, including children, and are ideal for gifting, learning more, or keeping as a memory of your visit.

Shop

In 2021, the shop was installed in the emblematic and monumental Hall of Conclusions (17th century), where visitors can admire the extraordinary grotesque ceiling attributed to Francisco Ferreira de Araújo and the blue-and-white patterned tile panels.

Hall of Conclusions

This editorial project results from the close cooperation between the Monastery of Alcobaça, the scientific community, and the managers of Cistercian sites, with the main goal of disseminating knowledge and good management practices related to this heritage of European relevance, whose exceptional nature increasingly attracts public interest. Discover the volumes already published in the monument's shop.

Alcobaça Monastic Studies

Founded by Portugal's first King, D. Afonso Henriques, in 1153, through a donation to Bernard of Clairvaux (France), the Monastery of Alcobaça is one of the largest and best-preserved Cistercian monasteries in all of Europe, and was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1989.

A
Inscription criteria
The Monastery of Alcobaça was inscribed on the World Heritage List by meeting two of the ten criteria indicated by the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (UNESCO, 1972) for a property's inscription to be considered:

**Criterion I - To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius:**
With its magnificent dimensions, the clarity of its architectural style, the beauty of the material used, and the quality of construction, the Monastery of Alcobaça is a masterpiece of Cistercian Gothic art. It testifies to the spread of an aesthetic style that developed in Burgundy in the time of Saint Bernard, and to the survival of the ascetic ideal that characterized the Order's first establishments such as Fontenay. The tombs of Dom Pedro and Dona Inês are examples of the finest Gothic funerary sculpture.

**Criterion IV - To be an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble illustrating one or more significant periods in human history:**
As an extraordinary example of a large Cistercian establishment, preserving most medieval regular spaces intact (church, cloister and lavabo, sacristy, chapter house, parlatory, monks' room, refectory and monks' dormitory), the ingenious hydraulic system in the former monastic enclosure, and most of the later constructions, notably the famous kitchen built in the 18th century.

B
Managing a World Heritage Property: an ongoing assessment
The deepening of scientific knowledge about the monument and the development of the management process over the last decade have provided new approaches and opened new perspectives on the Property, in its different fields of action, from Identification and conservation to its use and promotion.

The reflection provided by the 3rd Cycle of Periodic Reporting (2018-2024), under the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972), coordinated by the World Heritage Centre (WHC), was an extraordinary opportunity to carry out an introspective analysis in the different areas proposed by the WHC, as well as to systematize the monument's condition in relation to them.

In particular, with regard to the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the Monastery of Alcobaça, adopted retroactively in 2014, through which the Portuguese State committed to preserving the Values of Integrity and Authenticity, the need to update it in the near future was identified.

This exercise also required rethinking the attributes that justify this OUV and systematizing their condition (preserved, compromised, seriously compromised or lost) and their degree of vulnerability in light of the threats these properties currently face.

C
Attributes that justify the Outstanding Universal Value of the Monastery of Alcobaça
The response to the 3rd Cycle of Periodic Reporting (2018-2024) was also an opportunity to review the attributes previously identified and included in the OUV Statement.

Systematizing the attributes "that constitute the direct material expression of Outstanding Universal Value" is fundamental for fully understanding it and, consequently, was essential in the (re)definition of the monument's management process, designed according to its Identity.

In the context of this reflection, 14 main attributes were defined:
- The preservation of the Spirit of Place. The monastery remains a site that radiates Culture and the church keeps its liturgical function;
- The intimate relationship between the property and the surrounding landscape, demonstrating the monks' capacity for territorial planning, still clearly visible in the area of the former Coutos of Alcobaça;
- The nobility and quality of the material used in construction (local limestone), the perfection of carving and installation, aspects that contribute to the Cistercian aesthetic ideal;
- The expression of physiographic knowledge in choosing the site for the monastery, as well as technical knowledge in managing natural resources, of which the ingenious hydraulic system is an exceptional testimony;
- The preservation of most medieval regular spaces, showing the spatial-functional organization of a Cistercian abbey;
- The preservation of most later constructions, which attest to the new spatial-functional needs that emerged between the 16th and 18th centuries, in particular the monumental kitchen;
- The originality of the architectural concept and the construction solutions adopted, with the unprecedented decision, for its time, to build the church's three naves at practically the same height;
- The deliberate intention for the architecture to perfectly express Cistercian Spirituality, reflecting the Order's aesthetic ideal;
- The historical and symbolic importance of the Monastery of Alcobaça plan, a replica of the mythical medieval abbey of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, partially lost in the 19th century, the mother house of Alcobaça;
- The quality of execution and iconographic richness of the tombs of D. Pedro I and Dona Inês de Castro, a materialization of the tragic love story still perpetuated today through multiple cultural expressions;
- The unique construction system of the vast collection of terracotta sculptures, mostly larger-than-life, polychromed and gilded, produced in the 17th and 18th centuries;
- The preservation of original ceramic flooring in situ, in the church ambulatory;
- The exceptional nature of the Italian Carrara marble sculptures on the church facade and their iconological reading;
- The group of eleven centenary cedar trees (cedrus atlantica) that survive in the former intimate monastic enclosure.

D
Values and meanings
The attributes are associated with values (historical, symbolic, archaeological, architectural, artistic, landscape and ecological, natural and environmental, religious and spiritual, social and economic), and these values may have different meanings or degrees of attachment for the local community, visitors, and the entities or agents that, directly or indirectly, participate in or are "affected" by the management of the Property.

As the basis of the monument's Identity, their weight and interaction are dynamically taken into account in the ongoing integrated management strategy.

Phone: 262 505 120 / 262 505 128

Email: geral.malcobaca@museusemonumentos.pt

Educational service (guided tour bookings)

Email: se.malcobaca@museusemonumentos.pt


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On 15 January 2025, this project was nominated for the World Monuments Fund Watch Program, being one of 25 selected from more than 200 applications from all over the world, which clearly demonstrates the relevance, on a universal scale, of this unique heritage.

This exhibition marks the 1st anniversary of this important nomination, bringing to Alcobaça for the FIRST TIME (after the extinction of religious orders, in 1834), two fired-clay sculptures produced in this monastery but now part of the collection of the National Museum of Ancient Art. These sculptures represent two angels from the monastery's former Nativity scene and an Archangel Saint Michael, and now return "home", where they can be appreciated alongside the five surviving terracotta sculptural groups, totaling nearly two hundred pieces in this monument's collection.

The exhibition is open to the public in the Parlatorium of the Monastery of Alcobaça until 11 June 2026.