Alcobaça Monastery is the first Gothic church in Portugal. It was a Cistercian Order monastery. The Cistercians rejected ornate decorations and the church is simple and simply magnificent. The only statues allowed in the church itself were those of the Virgin Mary. The cloister was built in the late 13th century. It does have animal and floral motifs and a number of larger statues. This smaller statue is in the cloister. During the Baroque period, the monks at Alcabaca were famous for their clay sculptures.

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