Covento dos Capuchos

Convento dos Capuchos The Convento dos Capuchos was a Franciscan monastery that carried the tradition of poverty and simplicity to an extreme. This tiny convent was occupied by Franciscan monks for 300 years, finally abandoned in the mid-19th century. Below are pictures of the tiny courtyard at the center of the monastery.



On the right and below are paintings on the outside of the monastery chapel. The monk on the right is St. Francis of Assisi.


Traditional Portuguese Azuelo tiles cover the inside of the chapel.
The monastery is also known as the Cork Convent as the monks used cork to insulate and cover all of the living quarters. On the right, Jack & Nikki are sitting on a cork lined stone bench. Portugal is one of the leading suppliers of cork. The cork for most wine bottles comes from Portugal. So cork was both plentiful and free to the monks. Below is the bark on a cork tree on the convent grounds.

Here are some of the living quarters in the monastery, with the cork lined entrances to the tiny individual rooms for each monk. The entrances are extremely small as you can see in the picture on the right.

All of the furniture in the convent was carved or formed from rock, including the dining table on the left and the two-seater below.	Photo by Jack Goodman.
One hopes they lined the toilets with cork.
The convent is located at the top of a hill between Cascais and Sintra, and provides a dramatic view of Cascais.