Late Gothic architecture is intermingled with the Manueline style. The ornate convent has been put up in limestone, with a profusion of gables, spires, pinnacles and buttresses.

The convent was built to thank the Virgin Mary for the Portuguese victory over the Castilians in the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It took over a century to build, starting in 1386 and ending circa 1517, spanning the reign of seven kings and fifteen architects.

The Monastery’s Founder’s Chapel (Capela do Fundador) became the first royal pantheon in Portugal. It holds the tombs of king João I and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, and their sons prince Dom Pedro, Henry the Navigator, Dom João and Dom Fernando.