Alcobaça belonging to Leiria’s district, began to develop in the valley of the Alcoa and Baça rivers. The town is known mainly due to its Monastery or Royal Abbey of “Santa Maria de Alcobaça (St. Mary of Alcobaça); founded in 1178, by the Cistercian monks, fulfilling a vow made by the 1st Portuguese king, Afonso Henriques, before the conquest of Santarém from the Moors.

The Monastery was built in Gothic style and with Moorish influences.  It arrived even rival with other big abbeys cistercienses of the Europe, during the Medium Age.  One of the most greatest private domains inside the kingdom of Portugal is the couto of Alcobaça, comprising several of the countless and neighboring councils lands a little by all the country.  For beyond the graves of the eternal passionate one, the king D. Pedro (1357-1367) and to his lover Inês of I Castrate find itself in the lateral naves of the church of the convent, being considered two masterpieces of the Gothic sculpture in Portugal. 
Alcobaça’s Monastery, classified as World Heritage by UNESCO, in 1989, is a reproduction of the French Abbey of Clairaval.

Gastronomy

Throughout the centuries the Monastery’s economy was based on the fertility of its generous lands.
The Cistercian monks were responsible for bringing people into the area and for introducing new techniques, which made this an important agricultural region until nowadays. Its main products are fruits like Casa Nova apple, Rocha pear and peaches.
This region can be characterized by its rich flavored gastronomy, its ceramics and potteries and also by its shinning glass-cut crystal.

Handicraft

In Alcobaça we can find a large number of handicraft’s as faience and porcelain; red clay works; crystals; traditional weaving; embroideries; Alcobaça’s printed cottons (Chitas) and the scarves, known as “Alcobaças”.