King Duarte aspired to the establishment of a vast pantheon for himself and his descendants, but he alone lies here under an open sky in this unfinished monument. An octagonal rotunda (its portal bearing unusually exuberant Maneuline decoration) gives onto seven chapels separated by famously unfinished pillars, which are covered with carved motifs (in stark contrast to the sobriety of the Renaissance balcony storey above, added in 1553 by King John III).
