The Convent of the Friars Minor Capuchin, popularly known as the Convent of the Capuchos (), but officially the Convento da Santa Cruz da Serra de Sintra ("Convent of the Holy Cross of the Sintra Mountains"), is a historical convent consisting of small quarters and public spaces located in the civil parish of São Pedro de Penaferrim, in Sintra Municipality, Portugal. Its creation was associated with the Portuguese Viceroy of India, D. João de Castro, and his family, but became a pious community of reclusive clergy that continued to occupy cramped humble spaces in the complex until the religious orders were abolished in Portugal.

History

16th century The convent was founded in 1560 and consisted of eight monks that arrived from the convent of Arrábida under the authority of D. Álvaro de Castro, counsellor of state and administrator for King Sebastian of Portugal. The sanctuary was established to the invocation of Santa Cruz ("Holy Cross") and was originally the inspiration of Álvaro de Castro's father, the former fourth Viceroy of India, D. João de Castro (1500–1548). According to a legend, João de Castro was hunting in the mountains of Sintra and, chasing a deer, he found himself lost. Tired from his search, he fell asleep against a rock and in a dream, he received a divine revelation to erect a Christian temple on the site. The convent followed the Franciscan rule and belonged to the Order of Friars Minor, or Capuchins.

In 1564, from an inscription found on the site, indulgences were granted by Pope Pius IV, who offered that prayers be said for the Christian princes, the Church, and the soul of deceased João de Castro.

Between 1578 and 1580, the Chapel of Santo António was constructed, along with the erection of a wall around the convent, under the orders of Cardinal Henry. The following year (around October), the convent was visited by King Philip II of Spain, newly installed King of Portugal and Spain.

The primitive community of the convent was composed of eight friars, the most famous of them being Friar Honório, who, according to the book Mirror of Penitents, composed by one of the friars, lived to be 100 years old, despite having spent the last three decades of his life in penance, living inside a small hole inside the convent, which still exists today. In 1596, friar Honório died. The story of Honório impressed later English Romantic poets, like Robert SoutheyRobert Southey, For the Cell of Honorius, at the Cork Convent Near Cintra. poem and Lord Byron ("Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell/In hope to merit heaven, by making earth a hell").Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage 1.20

17th century In the 17th century, a painting/panel of São Pascoal Bailão by Vicente Carducho was completed, while in 1610, several mural paintings were created on the exterior of the Chapel of Senhor Morto. In 1650, a marker was erected to identify the road to the convent.

In October 1654, King John IV of Portugal visited the convent, ordering the sheriff of Cascais to send the friars six dozen fish and dried meat, as well as all the fish necessary to support the festival of São Francisco. At the same time, D. Luísa de Gusmão provided the order for a moio of wheat and an arroba of cereals from annual harvests. By the second half of the 17th century, King Peter II of Portugal doubled the gift of D. Luísa de Gusmão. By 1684, the widow of Álvaro de Castro (the third patron of the convent), the lady Maria de Noronha, was buried at the door of the convent (as was the tradition at the time). Similar royal patronage was conceded by King John V of Portugal in the 18th century; he offered a pipa of olive oil to the convent per year, as well as an azulejo tile.

18th and 19th centuries By 1728, the convent was described by friar António da Piedade as secluded "between dense fields, high boulders, and while trees, that in this refuge produces the mountains that are so many...". Similarly, the convent was still inhabited by members of the religious community in 1787.

Between 1830 and 1837, William Burnett completed a carving on the steps leading to the Chapel of Santo António, flanked by a low wall.

As a result of the extinction of the religious orders in Portugal, in 1834, the convent was acquired by the second Count of Penamacor, D. António de Saldanha Albuquerque e Castro Ribafria (1815–1864), descendant of João de Castro. It remained in the possession of this generation until 1873, when it was acquired by Sir Francis Cook, 1st Viscount of Monserrate.

In 1889, the convent was described as "situated in the centre of a sad solitude, encircled by a dryness and whipped by gales...this small monastery, open to the rocks and containing a dozen cells, in which can barely move the disgraceful inhabitants".

20th century In the first half of the 20th century, the site was acquired by the State, although little was done until the middle of that century. It was bought by the Portuguese State in 1949.Parques de Sintra: Monte da Lua The DGEMN Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais ("General Directorate of Buildings and National Monuments") began a series of public projects to preserve the site, starting in the 1950s: in 1952, construction of the roofing of the chapel, farmhouse, and latrines; in 1954 and 1955, repairs to the water pipes and guardhouse; in 1958, repair of the roofing; in 1961, repair of the farmhouse roof; in 1963, repair of the roofing and interiors; in 1967, the replacement of two doors covered in cork, ceilings, pipes, and cleaning of the spaces. These projects continued with the Institute Florestal ("Forestry Institute") and the Direcção-Geral das Florestas ("General Directorate of Forests"), which were responsible for conservation, cleaning, and maintenance of the buildings and grounds in 1971, 1983–1985, and 1994.

During the 1920s, an image of Santa Maria Madalena still existed in a niche near the gate but was eventually collected by the state and stored in the Pena National Palace. Much later, images of Santo António and São Francisco, located in the retable in the church, and two candelabras, were stolen from the site. For reasons of security and degradation of the site, the property was closed to the public in 1998. In August 1998, the site was assaulted and robbed of several images and sculptures. These events and the continued degradation of the site resulted in the creation of the Associação dos Amigos do Convento dos Capuchos ("Association of the Friends of the Convent of the Capuchos").

The Capuchos Convent became part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra World Heritage Site, classified by UNESCO in 1995.

21st century On 1 June 2001, the convent was reopened to the public, after fears of its degradation, under the concession of the Parques de Sintra Monte da Lua S.A. Between 2000 and 2001, public works, conservation and restoration of many of the buildings.

In 2011, the film This Side of Resurrection, directed by Joaquim Sapinho, was shot inside the walls of the convent.

Architecture

The minimalist convent was erected in harmony with its surroundings, implanted in the rocks and boulders that formed this part of the Sintra Mountains. Due to the slopes, many of the dependencies are constructed on the slopes, each level used to identify the ascendency and purification of the spirit.José Cardim Ribeiro (1998), p.215 The "hall of retreat", which is further elevated than other spaces, is reached from a passage from the"hall of penitence". The church is integrated into the complex, with little indications from the exterior. Researchers have suggested that the composition of buildings and spaces was influenced by the number 8 (evident in the number of cells and stairs between rooms), which symbolized infinity. A comparable metaphor exists in the different roads/paths, which symbolized the dichotomy between good and bad roads to be taken in spiritual fulfillment. Poverty was the central notion that ruled the construction of the Convent of the Capuchos. The whole building is small. Its windows and doors are coated with cork, the traditional material of Portugal, the last being smaller than a man's height, to induce genuflection. Decoration is scarce and minimal. After visiting the convent in 1581, Philip I of Portugal said, "Of all my kingdoms, there are two places I estimate especially, El Escorial for being so rich, and the Convent of the Holy Cross for being so poor".

The site is located in the rural part of Sintra, along the northeastern flank of the Sintra Mountains, approximately 325 metres above sea level, in a location marked by dense vegetation and accentuated slopes, near King Ferdinand II's hunting grounds (Tapada D. Fernando II). The convent, surrounded by a forest of oak and shrubbing species of trees, is walled into an area of rocks and exposed boulders. Along Sintra's old road connecting the village to Colares and near the Palace of Monserrate, there is a road that heads towards this religious retreat, indicated by a 17th-century marker: "CAMINHO PARA O CONVENTO DE SANTA CRUZ DA SERRA, VULGO CAPUCHOS; 1650". Access to the grounds is made by a portal (in the southeast corner of the site), or by the Terreiro das Cruzes ("Terrace of Crosses"), an irregularly walled enclosure with a calvary located in the southwest corner and visitor centre. To the left of the cross in the Terrace of Crosses is the principal entrance, or Pórtico das Fragas ("Portico of the Rocks"), with an access-way comprising two large boulders, one of which is surmounted by a bell-gable. From the walled enclosure, a small flight of stairs leads into the Terreiro do Campanário ("Terrace of the Belfry"), a small irregular patio with a cross, which leads to the buildings. The southeast entrance, located a further distance from the visitor centre, comprises a gate and ancillary building, which leads directly to the much larger Terreiro do Fonte ("Terrace of the Fountain"). So named because of the large octagonal water fountain, the terrace is a principal square within the retreat, with bunk seating in rock around its edges. Legend suggests that King Sebastian would eat his meals around this fountain when he visited the convent. The fountain itself shows vestiges of 17th-century azulejo tile.

The plan of the site is irregular, composed of various spaces at different slope heights, incorporated into the local rock and cliffs. The church, integrated into the complex, has a longitudinal plan, with a nave and presbytery in the rock. Its simple facades, with no decoration, are uncommonly utilitarian, with a lack of ostentation typical of the period of its construction. The principal entrance, across the southeastern portal to the elevated Terreiro da Fonte, is made from two steps. The stone patio has vestiges of two tombs, while the roof is covered in cork. In the centre wall, the cut backrests are decorated with pebbles and ceramic fragments, with a conch-like arched niche, decorated with ceramic fragments. On the wall fascia, accessed by stairs on two sides converging onto a level platform, there are two door frames covered with cork, leading to the pilgrims' quarters. Between these is a large wooden cross and inscribed muraria box, framed with pebbles and shells, with traces of a painting depicting a crucified monk. The right-side wall is embossed with a representation of Virgin with the Child and the founder of the convent, D. Álvaro de Castro, topped by a triangular pediment, the tympanum with Christ Pantocrator. On the opposite wall, the lintel is surmounted by a cross of rubble, flanked by two small openings, with access to the Chapel of Senhor dos Passos.