Convent of the Capuchos

A Monastery Built For Poverty

The Convent of the Capuchos was founded in 1560 by Álvaro de Castro, a councillor of state to King Sebastião, fulfilling a vow made by his father João de Castro. It was named the Convent of the Holy Cross of the Sintra Hills and housed Franciscan friars of the strict Arrábida observance, who lived in extreme poverty. Parques de Sintra describes a building completely lacking in luxury, where the construction merged with the enormous granite boulders of the hillside, which the friars considered divine constructions.

The cell interiors are lined with cork against the humidity, and that lining survives and gives the place its popular name, the Cork Convent. The woods around it were kept intact by the community and are today, in Parques de Sintra's words, one of the most notable examples of Sintra's primitive forest. Friars lived here for about two and a half centuries, until the religious orders were abolished in 1834.

Why It Is the Hardest Sintra Sight to Reach

The convent sits in the hills west of the town, reached by car through Colares towards Cabo da Roca. No Scotturb tourist line serves it. The official public transport route is Carris Metropolitana bus 1253 from Sintra station, followed by a 40-minute walk, and Parques de Sintra also lists a taxi.

By car you go via Colares towards Cabo da Roca as far as Pé da Serra, then take the EN 247-3 to the convent. From Cascais or Guincho you take the EN 247 to Pé da Serra and turn right. Weather matters more here than in town: the convent closed for storm damage and reopened on 3 March 2026, and a 40-minute walk to a shut gate is the outcome to avoid.

The Rooms of the Community

The official list names the Courtyard of the Crosses, the Fountain Courtyard, the Porch, the Chapel of the Passion of Christ, the Vestibule, the Church, the Choir and the Corridor of the Cells, where the cork linings are. The shared rooms are the Refectory, the Kitchen, the Washroom, the Library, the Infirmaries and the Chapter House, with the Cloister and the Chapel of Our Lord in Gethsemane. The Barn and the Gardens with the Garden House complete the list.

Casa da Horta, the garden house, had maintenance works finished in 2026. The official page offers a 360º virtual visit and the Zoomguide digital guide if you want to preview the order of the rooms.

Hermitages, a Cave and the Woods

Outside the main block stand the Hermitage of Ecce Homo and the Hermitage of the Crucifixion, both restored in 2025 together with the old oven. The Cave of Friar Honório carries the convent's best-known legend: according to Parques de Sintra's history, Brother Honório spent the last decades of his life in a small cave in the grounds, living on bread and water after succumbing to temptation. Around all of it is the forest the friars kept intact, which Parques calls one of the most notable surviving examples of Sintra's primitive forest.

Leave time for these outlying spots rather than stopping at the cells.

The convent circuit is compact. A purposeful visit takes about an hour, our estimate, and the woods, the hermitages and the cave stretch it to an hour and a half. Transport is the variable.

Bus 1253 plus a 40-minute walk each way, or a drive through Colares, makes the whole outing half a day. On one day in Sintra the convent loses on time to the headline palaces. It works far better on a second day.

Opening Hours and the Lunch Break

The Convent of the Capuchos opens 09:00-17:30, with the last ticket sold and the last admission at 17:00. The ticket office closes for lunch from 12:00 to 13:00, as it does at the National Palace, the Moorish Castle, Monserrate and Queluz, but automatic vending machines remain available throughout the break. No timed entry is published and no booking is required, so unlike Pena you can simply arrive.

Buy online or at the door on the day.

Works and Weather

The Open for Works page lists no project in progress for the Capuchos. Recently completed work includes maintenance at Casa da Horta in 2026, restoration of the Hermitage of the Ecce Homo, the Hermitage of the Crucifixion and the old oven in 2025, and interior conservation in 2024. Weather is the real risk.

On 16 December 2025 strong winds closed the Capuchos along with the Moorish Castle, Pena and Monserrate, and the notice gave no reopening date. After an earlier storm-damage closure the convent reopened on 3 March 2026. On stormy days, check the Parques de Sintra notices page before setting out, because a 40-minute walk to a shut gate is a poor outcome.

The whole trip is planned from the Sintra city guide.

By Bus, Taxi or Car

From Sintra station, take bus 1253 operated by Carris Metropolitana, then walk 40 minutes to the convent. That walk is the official route, so build it into your plan and wear proper shoes. A taxi is the other option Parques de Sintra lists.

By car, go via Colares towards Cabo da Roca to Pé da Serra and continue on the EN 247-3 to the convent. Coming from Cascais or Guincho, take the EN 247 to Pé da Serra and turn right. The official GPS coordinates are 38.78291, -9.43579.

For context on the rest of the transport network, see our getting around Sintra page, and our hiking page for walkers who want to arrive on foot through the hills.

Accessibility, Dogs and Food

Parques de Sintra publishes no accessibility page for the Capuchos. Its per-site accessibility pages cover the Moorish Castle, Pena, the National Palace, Queluz and Monserrate only, so wheelchair users have no published route information for this monument and should contact Parques de Sintra directly at info@parquesdesintra.pt or +351 21 923 73 00 before visiting. Registered disabled visitors do get the strongest discount in the network here, 70%, a rate the Capuchos shares only with the National Palace, and a necessary companion enters free.

Dogs are not allowed, since they are welcome only at the Moorish Castle and Monserrate Park. There is no cafeteria listed at the Capuchos, so eat before or after in Colares. General ticket terms also forbid bringing food products or animals into the site.

• The convent's formal name is the Convent of the Holy Cross of the Sintra Hills, and it was founded in 1560 by Álvaro de Castro to honour a vow made by his father, João de Castro. (Parques de Sintra, history page)
• In 1581 Philip I of Portugal (II of Spain) said the two things in his kingdom that pleased him most were the Escorial for being so rich and the Convent of the Holy Cross for being so poor. (Parques de Sintra, history page)
• The cell interiors are lined with cork against the site's humidity, and that lining still survives, which is where the name Cork Convent comes from. (Parques de Sintra, history page)
• After an earlier closure for storm damage the convent reopened to the public on 3 March 2026, and a pre-restoration survey had rated its risk of heritage loss at 52%. (Parques de Sintra, Capuchos restoration project page)
• The 2013 restoration of the convent won a 2022 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in the Conservation and Adaptive Reuse category. (Parques de Sintra, Capuchos restoration project page)

On a single day, the convent is a hard sell. The 40-minute walk from the bus 1253 stop plus the visit takes half a day, our estimate, which is why the one day in Sintra plan leaves it out. The convent earns its place on day two.

On the two days in Sintra itinerary it pairs with Monserrate, Colares and the coast, all on the western side of the hills. If you would rather cover the hills under your own power on another day, the guided e-bike tour from Cascais and the Sintra to Cascais e-bike day from Lisbon ride Sintra's forest trails, though neither enters the convent, so buy your own $12.69 (€11) ticket if you want to go inside.