Monastery of São Vicente de Fora

The Monastery of São Vicente de Fora stands in the Lisbon neighborhood that bears its name — the suffix "de Fora" (outside) recalls that when Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king, founded the original church here in 1147, it lay beyond the city walls. Following earthquake damage, the complex was entirely rebuilt in the early 17th century under Philip I of Portugal in a Mannerist-Baroque style with a monumental twin-towered facade. Its cloisters are among Lisbon's finest: 38 panels of 18th-century blue-and-white azulejo tilework illustrate scenes from La Fontaine's Fables, lining the gallery walls in sweeping narrative sequences. Below the church lies the royal pantheon of the House of Braganza, the burial site of nearly every Portuguese monarch from João IV to the last king, Manuel II. The rooftop terrace offers an unobstructed panorama across the Alfama district, the Tagus estuary, and the port.