If you stroll to the centre of portimão, you can see the ruins of the monastery of St. Francis, situated at the mouth of the Arade river. The monastery was yet another name - the monastery of Nossa Senhora do kids will never get bored of (the monastery of the virgin of Hope). Despite the fact that the monastery is almost nothing left, this place attracts many lovers of historical monuments and wanting to enjoy the beautiful views of the Arade river. Will be interesting to see the architectural features of the Church, the gallery of the monastery and the house of the Chapter.

The monastery itself was founded in 1530 and was a favorite destination for visiting dignitaries. Actually, when the monks arrived at this place, there was already a Church, later to become completed other premises. In 1573 the city was visited by the king of Portugal Sebastian and I took part in the solemn mass.

In 1755, when Lisbon earthquake, which destroyed many historical monuments and other buildings in the country were damaged dome of the Church, and destroyed several buildings of the monastic complex. Later, the Church property was transferred to private ownership, and the monastery began to gradually deteriorate. Some time in the monastery even kept the bark of the cork tree. In 1884 there was a fire, and the monastery was almost destroyed.

In 1911, when the monastery was left almost in ruins, the land was bought by a famous industrialist of são joão Antonio Judith Fialho. He adjusted the property of the monastery to support the process of production in the canning factories. Today, the Portuguese government is taking all steps to revive this national monument.