Convento dos Capuchos

Deep in the forest of the Serra de Sintra, far from the palaces on the crest, a small monastery seems to grow out of the rock itself. The Convento dos Capuchos was founded in 1560 as a house of Franciscan friars who wanted nothing — no grandeur, no views, only the silence of the woods — and its cells are still lined with the cork bark that was their only comfort.

Poverty carved into the rock

The convent was founded by D. Álvaro de Castro in fulfilment of a vow made by his father, D. João de Castro, viceroy of India, and given to the Capuchin reform of the Order of St Francis. The friars built with what the mountain offered: cells so small that they are hardly wider than a bed, doorways of living rock, and walls lined with cork for warmth and damp — hence the old local name, the Convento da Cortiça, the cork convent. It lies within the UNESCO-listed Cultural Landscape of Sintra and is now managed by Parques de Sintra, alongside the palaces of Sintra and the woods of the Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais.

What to see

• The cork-lined cells and rock-carved doorways
• The tiny chapel and the stone cloister
• The forest paths of the Serra around the convent
• The contrast with the palaces on Sintra’s crest
• The viewpoints across the wooded hills

Practical information

The convent lies on the wooded slopes of the Serra de Sintra, reached by narrow roads from the town of Sintra and the parks above it. The ground is damp and the stone slippery: wear good walking shoes and bring a layer even in summer, and check the official site for opening days before visiting.

Image credit: Sintra Convento dos Capuchos by Kačka a Ondra — CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.