Lorvão

Monastery of Lorvão is a building of historical reference in Portugal, which, having been occupied by two distinct religious orders, was affected by many transformations throughout the years: first the Benedictine monks and then, after the XII century, the Cistercian nuns. During the Benedictine occupation, which probably started somewhere in the IX century, the monastery experienced an exponential cultural growth, and many books were illuminated inside its walls - the most famous one being Lorvão's Apocalypse (1189), that received the Memory of the World distinction by Unesco, in 2015, due to its historic importance.

It was in 1210 that Coimbra's bishop granted the monastery to Teresa, daughter of Portuguese king D. Sancho I, thus evicting the monks. Teresa chooses the Cistercian order to replace the Benedictine one, creating the first female Cistercian community in Portugal - the nuns would live there until the extinction of all the religious orders in 1834.

The church is embellished by years of investment by the nuns, many of them rich noblewoman. The baroque architecture features a mpingo wood door, two silver tombs, one for Teresa and one for Sancha, her sister; a magnificent choir-stall, made of jacaranda and walnut wood, stands in the secluded area; this separation is guaranteed by a rococo iron and bronze chancel, underneath a unique double-sided 1795 organ, complete with four thousand tubes.

Lorvão's Monastery has been considered a monument of national interest since 1910.