Monuments

Located within Palmela castle, the convent´s construction was ordered at the beginning of the 15th century by king João I, grand master of the Order of Santiago. In 1443, it became the headquarters of Order and remained so through to 1834, when religious orders were banned.

It is an austere building in simple geometrical lines shorn of most external ornamentation and characteristic of the later gothic period. Note the eastern facing façade, the three-archivolt entrance, overlooked by an oculus in place of the original rose window.

The interior includes three naves with ogival arches with ornamentation carried out under the final grand master, Jorge de Lencastre, in the middle of the 16th century. He was the bastard son of king João II. Dying in 1551, his tomb is to be found in the transept, by the side of the Evangelist. It features some quality sculpting in Arrábida red marble with details characteristic of the Manueline style.

Within the convent complex, attention goes to the canteen with its white and blue tile panels from the 18th century (identical to the church transept). On the reading pulpit and font, there are the symbols of the order: scallops, knapsack, wide brimmed pilgrim´s hat, the sword, the horse and the standard of the military red cross. The cloisters are organised on three floors with the first boasting fine classically carved columns.