THF: court and royal cloisters Ol" r.ATALI-IA 



Standing in the center of the court-yard and looking up at the abbey, one sees three 

 beautiful lace-like parapets rise one above the other along the whole length, on cloister, 

 clerestory, and nave, clear-cut edges of perfect curves against the blue sky. Each of the 

 cloister arches is filled with stone tracery of amazing richness and variety, the cross of the 

 Order of Christ and the armillary sphere being deftly introduced in the fretwork with great 

 effect. This cloister, like that of Belem, seems to mark the purer and less extravagant 

 development of the Manueline style, in which the Gothic traditions have not been entirely 

 cast aside, and only the most callous soul could remain unmoved by its exquisite beauty. — 

 Martin Hume. 



