Description of the attraction
The Capuchin monastery of Arrábida was built in the 16th century. The monastery covers an area of 25 hectares and in the past belonged to the Franciscan order.
The founder of the monastery is the monk Martino de Santa Maria, a Franciscan monk from Castile. The land for the monastery was granted to the monk by the first Duke of Aveiro, João de Lancaster, after the monk confessed his desire to become a hermit and devote himself to the service of Our Lady of Arrabida.
The monastery is divided into Old, located at the very top of the mountainside, and New, located halfway down the slope. The Old Monastery has four chapels located along the slope, and monks' cells carved into the rocks. The old part of the monastery was famous for the fact that many pilgrims flocked to the small chapel of Bom Zhezush (Good Jesus) for prayer worship. The first four monks lived on the territory of the Old Monastery for two years in cells carved into the rocks.
The construction of the monastery took a very long time. The son of the first Duke of Aveiro, Jorge de Lancaster, continued construction work at the monastery and built a wall in order to establish the boundaries of the monastery. Later, houses were built, where the pilgrims lived, and observation towers. However, unfortunately, not all of the towers were completed. Also on the territory of the monastery were a refectory, a kitchen, a library, apartments of the Duke of Aveiro. In the chapels of the monastery there are sculptures of saints, the walls are decorated with tiles, and the ceilings are decorated with paintings on religious themes. In one of the chapels, an ancient statue of Christ, made of wood and terracotta, attracts special attention.
