Convento de Santa Clara, Vila do Conde

The Convent of Santa Clara is located in the town of Vila do Conde, Porto District, Portugal. It was a female convent instituted in 1318 and extinct in the NINETEENTH century. From the old ensemble, we have the magnificent Gothic-style church and part of the Conventual building, partially rebuilt in the EIGHTEENTH century. The convent was founded on the initiative of D. Afonso Sanches Filho Bastard of Dinis I of Portugal, and his wife, D. Teresa Martins. From the heritage built over the centuries, we are left today the church (see: Church of the Convent of Santa Clara), in Gothic style, the residential area (formerly designated as the "new dormitories"), built in the EIGHTEENTH century, the arches of the old cloister with its Fountain and the extensive aqueduct-the aqueduct of Santa Clara, partly destroyed. In the church are some important tombs: the de Beatriz de Portugal, daughter of Bl. Nuno Álvares Pereira, the Counts of Cantanhede and the founders. One of the most notable moments in the history of the convent occurred under the Abbess D. Isabel de Castro (1518-1543). The reconstructions of 1777 in Taste Neopalladino is of Master Mason Henrique Ventura Lobo, who worked in the chain of the Court of the relationship of Porto. The legend of the abbess Berengaria and the legend of the girl of the Merendeiro-originating from the convent-testify, from the part of the nuns of the House, longing for a very purified Christian experience. After the decree of extinction of religious orders (1834), life in the convent was slowly fading, until it reached its end in 1892, with the death of the last nun. In 1902 the premises of the former convent received the House of Detention and correction of the port, then reformatory of Vila do Conde and professional School of Santa Clara, then known as the Educational center of Santa Clara, establishment of guardianship of minors That worked up to 2007. After 2007 it was abandoned. In September 2008 a contract was signed between Turismo de Portugal and Grupo Pestana with a view to its transformation in Pousada de Portugal, which was not carried out. In 2015 after agreement with the Chamber of Vila do Conde, the monastery underwent rehabilitation interventions with the aim of housing the municipalized services of Vila do Conde. The convent was rehabilitated with regard to roofs, facades, petrous elements and painted wooden frames. In 2018, the government through the Revive program, Concessionou to the touristic use the property with the legal model of surface law for a period of 50 years. The building will be converted into a 5-star hotel with 90 rooms, restaurant and spa. The winner of the contest was the Azorean company. Mr. Slicedays.