The Monastery of San­ta Maria d‘Alcoba&ccedil,a, north of Lis­bon, was found­ed in the 12th cen­tu­ry by King Alfon­so I. Its size, the puri­ty of its archi­tec­tur­al style, the beau­ty of the mate­ri­als and the care with which it was built make this a mas­ter­piece of Cis­ter­cian Goth­ic art.