This museum is installed in the former refectory of Batalha Abbey, a Gothic masterpiece and World Heritage site since 1933. It perpetuates the memory of the Portuguese participation in the 1914-1918 war.
Portugal joined the conflict in defence of its colonial territories in Africa, which were threatened by Germany's plan to establish its own colonial empire by annexing part of the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique.
Fighting on the side of the British on the Franco-Belgian border, the Portuguese army was attacked and wiped out by the German 6th Army's overwhelming offensive at the Battle of La Lys.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is in the Chapter Room, which, like the Refectory, adjoins the Royal Cloisters under a huge vault, considered to be one of the most audacious examples of Gothic architecture in Europe. In a simple grave, illuminated by a monumental chandelier that keeps the "flame of the nation" permanently alight, and under the gaze of the "Christ of the Trenches" that watched over the troops during the conflict, the Unknown Soldier is the symbol of the thousands of Portuguese who died in the trenches of Flanders. |