The ruins of the Monastery of Nossa Senhora da Rosa de Caparica are located in the parish of Caparica, municipality of Almada, in a valley between Monte de Caparica and Charneca de Caparica. The monastery belonged to the Order of the Hermits of Saint Paul, the First Hermit, and originated as a hermitage founded in 1410. Today, very little of the building’s ancient traces remain; most of its foundations are on private property. Fortunately, there is a set of drawings in the National Archives of the Torre do Tombo that apparently illustrate two phases of the building’s history: 1) its configuration in the late 16th century and; 2) a remodelling project, by the royal architect Luís de Frias Pereira, perhaps from the beginning of the 17th century (Mendes, 2017) .

Our project aims to virtually reconstruct the lost monastery in order to unveil this sacred place. Using the archive drawings as a basis, we hope to reconstruct what is possible and, by inspecting the terrain and ruins of the monastery, search for evidence from which to recreate this building in a virtual environment.

Source: Mendes, R. (2017) Os Desenhos do Mosteiro de Nossa Senhora da Rosa de Caparica \ 1593-1630 e o Arquiteto Régio Luís de Frias Pereira, in: ARTIS Nº5 (Caleidoscópio: Casal de Cambra) pp 42-51.