Twelve centuries provide a lot of history (and at least one love story). The origins of the Leça do Balio Monastery date back to the 10th century. All the nobles who came from the south on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela passed through there and were laid to rest there by the military-religious Order of the Knights of the Hospital of S. João de Jerusalém (later called the Order of Malta). In 1372, the temple also hosted the controversial and romantic wedding of King Ferdinand and D. Leonor Teles, immortalised by a sculpture by Irene Vilar. The Gothic monastery, classified as a National Monument in 1910, has the configuration it acquired in the 14th century, being one of the best known in the country.