Pousada Mosteiro do Crato

I arrived at the Pousada Mosteiro do Crato, in the village of Flor da Rosa, and stopped before what I had come to photograph: a 14th-century fortified monastery, one of the best preserved on the Iberian Peninsula, outlined against the clear sky of the Alto Alentejo. I began with the imposing façade, the stone path leading the eye to the arched portal and the cypress marking the entrance. I wanted the first image to say it all: here, history is the home.

I then devoted myself to the interior of this former Monastery of Santa Maria de Flor da Rosa, which over the centuries was also a castle and a palace. I photographed the cloister and its star-shaped indoor pool beneath stone vaults, the sitting rooms with their vaulted ceilings and the bedrooms where the ancient song of granite meets contemporary comfort. I sought the warm light pouring through the windows, drawing shadows over the Alentejo plain beyond.

Finally, I photographed the table and the garden: the refined Alentejo cuisine served with precision, the open-air breakfasts, the wine poured into the glass at dusk, and the façade bathed in the golden light of sunset. I wanted to convey the silence and the grandeur of this singular place. That is how I photographed the Pousada Mosteiro do Crato: as someone photographing a monument that still breathes.