The Monastery of São João de Taroca was the first Cistercian monastery in Portugal, founded in 1140, construction begun in 1154, and one of the best-preserved monastic buildings in it is the Cistercian Romanesque church which preserves one of the most impressive Portuguese collections of court tiles. Delft (glazed ceramics), extensive archaeological excavations carried out in this monastery between 1998 and 2007 have allowed the identification of the original monastic dependencies of the Middle Ages.