Unfinished Cathedral at Batalha

Cathedral of Batalha, really flaming gothic

West facade, with the "founders' chapel" to the right;

founders being earliest kings, queens, etc., of Portugal

At the east end, the unfinished chapel...no roof,

but otherwise pretty overwhelming

Nave view...purity, great size and height

Dome of the founders' chapel

Tomb of first king and queen,

14th century, Joao I and his wife,

Philippa of Lancaster (Portugal and

England have been pals for a long

time; they had a common rival)

On the right, her Tudor coat of arms (really ties things

together...)

Tomb of their son, Prince Henry, the Navigator,

generally credited with kicking off the Age of Discovery

Beautiful stained glass, more Moorish-

looking than Christan, we thought (well,

excluding the coats of arms)

Looking into the incredible unfinished chapel,

at the other end

Another king and queen, holding hands, in the unfinished

chapel

Finished ceiling in one of the side-chapels

of the unfinished chapel

Interesting figures around the floor of the unfinished chapel

(scores of these); reminded us of some of the secular

Norman figures we saw near Hereford

In the market adjacent; we're going to get

one of these yard sprinklers as soon as we

have a yard again

We proceeded on, hoping to catch a few of the small town sights before getting to Lisbon. First was the most impressive cathedral--well, big church--at Batalha. It is really high gothic, 14th century and later, contains some precious tombs, and much more.