Santa Cruz Monastery

Santa Cruz Monastery is a monastery of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine on Praça 8 de Maio in the lower town of Coimbra, founded in 1131 with the support of Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal. Afonso Henriques and his son, King Sancho I, are buried in its church, which is a National Pantheon since 2003.

The monastery is a National Monument since 1910 and part of the University of Coimbra, Alta and Sofia, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

What to see at Santa Cruz Monastery

Portal: the Manueline main portal of the church, between strong towers and buttresses.
Royal tombs: the tombs of Afonso Henriques, on the left of the chancel, and Sancho I, on the right, made in the 16th century by the brothers Diogo and João de Castilho, with the effigies by Nicolau Chanterene.
Church: the nave rebuilt in the Manueline period, with a high choir under a star-shaped vault.
Cloister: the Manueline cloister of the monastery.
Café Santa Cruz: a café beside the church, in a building of the monastery.

History of Santa Cruz Monastery

1131: the archdeacon Telo, João Peculiar and Saint Teotónio, the first prior and the first Portuguese saint, found the monastery, outside the walls of the city.
1132 to 1223: the Romanesque church and monastery are built to a design by Master Roberto.
12th and 13th centuries: the monastery becomes the most important monastic house of the kingdom and a leading school of the time.
From 1507: King Manuel I orders the rebuilding of the church and cloister in the Manueline style.
About 1530: the remains of the first two kings are moved to new tombs in the chancel.
1530 to 1577: a printing workshop operates in the cloister.
1910: the monastery is classified as a National Monument.
2003: the church becomes a National Pantheon.

Visiting Santa Cruz Monastery

Location: the monastery stands on Praça 8 de Maio, at the end of Rua Ferreira Borges, next to the City Hall.
Tickets: entry to the church is free, and the sacristy, the chancel with the tombs and the cloister are visited with a ticket sold in the sacristy.