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Convent of Saint Joseph (Lagoa)

Convent of Saint Joseph (Convento de São José)
Convent of St. Joseph
Convent (Convento)
Official name: Convento de São José/Centro Cultural de Lagoa
Named for: Saint Joseph
Country  Portugal
Region Algarve
Subregion Algarve
District Faro
Municipality Lagoa
Location Lagoa
 - elevation 20 m (66 ft)
 - coordinates 37°8′13.7″N 8°27′13.2″W / 37.137139°N 8.453667°W / 37.137139; -8.453667Coordinates: 37°8′13.7″N 8°27′13.2″W / 37.137139°N 8.453667°W / 37.137139; -8.453667
Length 33.00 m (108 ft), Southwest-Northeast
Width 65.50 m (215 ft), Northwest-Southeast
Style Medieval
Materials Concrete, Wood, Tile
Origin 1710
 - Completion 1730
Owner Portuguese Republic
For public Public
Easiest access Rua Joaquim Eugénio Júdice
Management Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Operator Junta de Freguesia da União de Lagoa e Carvoeiro
Status Unclassified

The Convent of Saint Joseph (Portuguese: Convento de São José) is a former convent and current cultural centre of Lagoa, situated in the civil parish of Lagoa, urbanized part of the city of Lagoa, Portugal. Built on the north edge of the old quarter, with its belvedere tower straddling the main road north to Silves, it hosts exhibitions of painting, photography, sculpture and pottery, as well as various shows and discussions in its auditorium.

The convent appears to have been founded sometime between 1710 and 1713 (it is known to be in existence in 1730), by members of the Carmelite order of nuns, who fostered and educated abandoned girls. There still exists a (now disused) “baby wheel” or “foundling wheel” in the convent for the anonymous relinquishing of unwanted babies.The original building was seriously damaged in the 1755 earthquake and was rebuilt thereafter.

In 1834 the government of Portugal suppressed all religious orders and monastic houses in the country. The institution continued to function as a foster home, probably as an “Association of Poor Girls”. In 1876, after church-state relations had been more or less normalized, the convent was re-opened as a girls' school by a number of Third Order Dominican Sisters (or non-cloistered nuns). The establishment was well supported both in terms of recruitment and money by the local community. (While the law still forbade cloistered convents, “third order” institutions – including schools – under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical dioceses were allowed.) The school normally had about 30 boarders and 60 day students.

After the founding of the Portuguese First Republic in 1910, there was a formal separation of church and state under which the state took over all educational functions; the Convent was closed and the building came into the hands of the Comissão Jurisdicional dos Bens das Extintas Congregações Religiosas (Legal Commission for the Assets of Extinct Religious Congregations). At that time the São José convent was the only one in the Algarve. Much of the contents were sold or stolen; very few remain in Lagoa today.


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