Odivelas Memorial

Odivelas Memorial (Memorial de Odivelas, or Cruzeiro)

Also known as the Cruzeiro, the Odivelas Memorial stands in Largo da Memória, in the historic centre of Odivelas, near the northern edge of Lisbon, at the spot that was once the entrance to the old town and barely two hundred metres from the Monastery of São Dinis and São Bernardo. It is one of the most intriguing Gothic works in Portugal: built of lioz limestone from the Trigache quarries in Famões, it consists of a base, a double tier of superimposed arches and a crowning element, in two vertical faces, one facing Lisbon and the other the monastery. On the north-west face is the medieval Portuguese shield, used in heraldry until the reign of King Fernando, and the whole is topped by a cross of four semicircles forming a fleuron, similar to others on 14th-century Portuguese monuments. Its origin and meaning remain uncertain: some argue that it was raised so that the body of King Dinis, who died in 1325, could rest there on the way to his tomb in the monastery, or that of King João I, carried from Lisbon to Batalha in 1433; other theories suggest a boundary marker of the monastery's jurisdiction, or a toll point. Classified as a national monument in 1910, it underwent conservation and restoration work completed in June 2022, which also added night-time lighting. It stands in the open air and can be seen at any time.

Located at: Câmara Municipal de Odivelas
Address: Largo da Memória, 2675 Odivelas
Opening hours: open-air monument, freely accessible at any time
Coordinates: 38.790473, -9.180516
Buses: 736
Metro: Odivelas (Yellow)