In this event, we'll take a guided tour of the so-called Old Convent of Arrábida. At the top of the mountain, the four chapels, the set of guardhouses for venerating the mysteries of the Passion and some cells carved into the rocks form what is known as the Old Convent. We'll also take advantage of the morning to visit the Lapa da Gruta de Santa Margarida, after a short walk to one of the nearby beaches.

Old Convent of Arrábida:

The Arrábida Convent is made up of areas that were once used for religious worship and meditation and includes the Old Convent, located on the highest part of the mountain; the New Convent, situated halfway up the slope, its chapels, the garden, the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, five round towers, a group of forty cells, a refectory, a kitchen, a library, the Duke of Aveiro's quarters and accommodation areas for pilgrims.

The Convent of Arrábida covers an area of 25 hectares and had its origins in a small cell built in 1539. Its construction dates back to the 16th century (1542) and it was once a Franciscan monastery, founded by Friar Martinho de Santa Maria (a Castilian friar of the Order of St Francis), to whom D. João de Lencastre (first Duke of Aveiro) ceded the land on the hillside, after he confessed his desire to be a hermit, dedicating his devotion to Our Lady of Arrábida.

When the first Franciscans arrived in the Serra da Arrábida, and given that the Arrábida Convent did not yet exist, they lived in small caves at the top of the mountain.

The cells at the Arrábida Convent were built practically out of rock and were very small, only big enough for each monk to move around inside, not allowing them to stand upright.

In 1834, due to the extinction of the religious orders, the facilities of the Arrábida Convent were abandoned by the Franciscan friars, which led to countless lootings and damages, and in 1863 they became the property of the House of Palmela (Dukes of Palmela).

At the end of the 19th century, the Duke of Palmela decided to build the western part of the Arrábida Convent with a new outbuilding for housing.

Lapa da Gruta de Santa Margarida:

Located at the foot of the Serra da Arrábida, by the sea, which can be reached by boat or by land via a path built there by a hermit, descending some 200 stone steps to the site, the Lapa de Stª Margarida cave is an unusual place that is still visited today, where there is a dilapidated chapel built there in the 17th century. There used to be three images (of Our Lady of the Conception, St Anthony and St Margaret) in the niches shown in the picture above, but they have disappeared over time and one of them is kept in the Arrábida Convent.

There were many pilgrimages to this place in past centuries, especially the Syrian fishermen who came in their boats decked out from all over, and the atmosphere became festive but one of authentic spiritual recollection, where people prayed and sang united by the same feeling of faith regardless of their personal convictions. This is no longer the case today, and the place is somewhat neglected.