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GPS 38.784638084049185, -9.43811544569063

The Convento dos Capuchos is one of the many examples of Pietist religiosity in the 16th century in Portugal and was known for its extremely poor construction. Small in size, with cork-lined cells and dormitories and a chapel whose vault is formed in the rock itself, William Beckford said in 1787 that, in 1787, he reported his visit to the Convent saying: "we followed a narrow shortcut for several miles over a wild and deserted hill that took us to the Convent of the Capuchos, which at first sight corresponds to the image that one has of the home of Robinson Crusoe" (William Beckford and Portugal. The journey of a passion. Exhibition catalogue. National Palace of Queluz, 1987 , p. 159).

The Convent embodies the ideal of fraternity and universal brotherhood of the Franciscan friars. Those who inhabited it were part of the Province of Arrábida, of the Order of Friars Minor Regular and Observant.

The convent's entrance, a simple shed with a roof and wooden beams lined with cork, is a fair expression of the poverty and restraint that guided this construction devoid of decorative elements.

History

The Capuchos Convent was built in 1560 by D. Álvaro de Castro, D. Sebastião's State Councilor and Treasury Supervisor, as a result of fulfilling a vow of his father, D. João de Castro, fourth viceroy da Índia.The Convent of Santa Cruz da Serra de Sintra thus arose, in an isolated and inhospitable place, whose natural conditions at the time of its foundation certainly had a strong influence on the choice of its location.

Inhabited at the end of the 18th century, the Convent of Santa Cruz dos Capuchos was abandoned in 1834, with the extinction of the religious orders that the liberal regime had determined.

The artistic elements existing in the convent are now very degraded, the result of time itself, and above all the acts of vandalism to which this entire monument was subjected. rupestrian. On a visit to the building, we walk through the narrowness of its corridors incorporated in the granite blocks, and let ourselves be involved in the penumbra of the daily life of these religious. From the Church, one passes to the High Choir, where the chants of the celebration of the mass were sung. In this place, one discovers the entrance to the corridor of the cells, whose small doors forced the adoption of a genuflection posture, an expression of humility before the intimacy of that place. At the end of the corridor is the refectory where meals were taken on a stone table, offered by Cardinal D. Henrique as proof of his admiration for the life that was lived here.

Through a minister, you can see the kitchen and, further on, the Novice's Cell. In Casa das Águas, one can see the concern of the friars with the hygiene and health of the environment in which they lived. The day-to-day life of this house was also filled with the occupations to which these priests dedicated themselves in the library, in the infirmaries, and it is still possible to discover the guest wing and finish the journey through the interior of the building by entering the Chapter Room.

The vegetation that surrounds the convent is due to forest management policies from the mid-nineteenth century. In the old days, the place was much more open and sunny, as can be seen in contemporary engravings of the friars' occupation. Outside the convent fence, the land was cultivated and pastoralism was also practised. The forests were limited to rocky terrain and the tops of boulders. The convent woods, with its old oaks and large bushes, certainly benefited from the protection of the religious. Having survived to this day, the forest is probably the most important testimony of the primitive forest of the Serra de Sintra. This forest is made up of a sub-Mediterranean tree formation dominated by deciduous oaks, with elements of the Mediterranean maquis in the undergrowth and a great profusion of ferns, mosses and epiphytic and climbing plants that envelop and cover everything in a dense vegetal tangle. Also noteworthy, as isolated specimens cultivated by Man, are the leafy plane tree that covers the convent's churchyard, the old ash tree in the entrance courtyard and some unusually sized boxwood specimens that line the paths. Due to its rarity, state of conservation and the remarkable size of many specimens, this forest constitutes an important natural value that must be safeguarded.

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