Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, Porto

Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar is a former monastery in Vila Nova de Gaia. It belonged to the Order of Saint Augustine and occupies a high point across the Douro from Porto. From its grounds, the Dom Luís I Bridge and Porto’s historic fabric unfold below.

The surprise here is the plan: its church and cloister take matching circular forms, with rectangular worship spaces joining them. Building began in 1538 because João III needed a larger home for monks leaving the deteriorating Grijó monastery. Their early quarters became too small; construction of the replacement church started in 1597, and it was inaugurated on the seventeenth of July, sixteen seventy-two.

This height later made the monastery a military prize: Wellesley used it to mount a surprise attack on French forces across the Douro. The church commands Gaia’s skyline. The site became a National Monument in 1910 and joined Porto’s UNESCO listing in 1996.