Convento dos Capuchos

The Convento dos Capuchos, also called the Convento da Cortiça (Convent of Cork), sits in the forest on the western side of the Serra de Sintra, near Colares. Where Pena and Regaleira are all towers and colour, Capuchos is small, low, mossy and dim. Its builders fitted the rooms around the enormous granite boulders already there, and lined walls, doors and ceilings with cork from local cork oaks to keep out the cold and damp.

That makes it one of the stranger places to take children in Sintra. Grown-ups have to bow to get through the doors, the cells have barely room to lie down, and there’s a real hermit’s cave in the grounds. It also sees far fewer visitors than the famous palaces, which suits children who find crowds hard.

A legend says King João III was hunting in these hills on a hot summer day, lay down to rest under a big granite rock, and dreamt of angels worshipping the Holy Cross in the hollow where he slept. When he woke, he ordered a convent to be built there. The landowner, João de Castro, viceroy of Portuguese India, didn’t manage it in his lifetime. His son, D. Álvaro de Castro, had it built in 1560 for Franciscan friars who wanted to live as simply as possible, with no luxuries at all.

It worked. When King Philip I (Philip II of Spain) visited in 1581, he said the two things in his kingdoms that pleased him most were the Escorial palace for being so rich, and this convent for being so poor. Two centuries later, the English writer William Beckford said it reminded him of Robinson Crusoe’s home.

The friars stayed for about two and a half centuries. When Portugal closed all its religious orders in 1834, the convent was abandoned and its books were sold off at auction, so nobody knows what the library held. Francis Cook, the owner of nearby Monserrate, bought it in 1873, and the Portuguese state took it over in 1949. Parques de Sintra restored it from 2013, and the work won a European heritage prize, the Europa Nostra award, in 2022.

The visit starts outside, in the Courtyard of the Crosses. There are three crosses, a big one for Jesus in the middle and two smaller ones either side, and you can only walk through by one of the small ones. The big one was meant to show that nobody can follow exactly the path Christ took. You then go in through the Boulder Gate, squeezed between two huge granite blocks, where visitors once rang a bell for the guardian friar to come and unlock the door.

Inside, these are the parts children tend to remember:

• The porch, with a faded painting of St Francis in his brown habit and hood. The rope round his waist has three knots, one for each promise the friars made: to be poor, to obey and to stay unmarried.
• The church entrance, which looks like a cave, to match the legend of the king’s dream.
• The corridor of the cells. The doorways are so low and narrow that the friars had to kneel to go in. They slept on the floor, with only a straw mattress or a sheet of cork. A step at the end of the corridor marked where complete silence began.
• The refectory, where the friars ate around a stone table given by Cardinal Henrique, and the kitchen beyond it, seen through a revolving serving hatch. The kitchen is bigger than eight men needed, probably because the friars shared food with the poor and with pilgrims, and the water used for washing up went on to water the gardens.
• The washroom, fed by water carried 400 metres in a channel from two springs, which then supplied a fountain and the latrines. Parques de Sintra says that was highly unusual in a 16th-century building.
• The infirmary, with a small apothecary where medicines were kept and herbs were boiled. Next to it is the Penitential Cell, the only room in the convent with no window at all. Sensitive children may not want to go in.
• The Chapel of the Passion, added in the 18th century and decorated with blue and white tiles.

In a hidden corner of the grounds is the cave of Friar Honório. According to the story, he gave in to temptation and spent the rest of his life, around three decades, living alone in this hollow in the rocks on bread and water instead of in his cell. Children tend to find this the most memorable thing in the whole visit.

The forest around the convent was left alone by the friars, and it’s now one of the best surviving pieces of Sintra’s original mountain forest. Visit Sintra describes old oaks, ferns, mosses and creepers growing over everything, a huge plane tree shading the convent yard, an old ash tree at the entrance and unusually large box bushes along the paths. Bring a magnifying glass for the moss.

When checked in September 2026, tickets were €11 for adults aged 18 to 64, €9 for ages 6 to 17 and €9 for over-65s. The family ticket, for two adults and two young people, was €29. The price list starts at age 6. Online tickets are for a fixed date, but you can move the date within a year.

If you live in Portugal, entry to all Parques de Sintra sites is free on Sundays and national holidays. You have to get the ticket in person at the ticket office on the day, showing your Cartão de Cidadão. People with a disability pay 70% less at Capuchos, and one companion goes free.

The convent opens daily from 09:00 to 17:30, with last entry at 17:00. The ticket desk closes from 12:00 to 13:00, though the machines keep working. It’s closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January.

The inside is dim, narrow and uneven, with steps, low beams and doorways you have to crouch through. Leave the buggy in the car and use a carrier for babies. It’s not a place to run about, though the forest paths outside give some room. The garden house below the cloister has been turned into toilets for visitors. There’s no café listed at the convent, so bring water and snacks for outside.

Pets aren’t allowed at Capuchos; Parques de Sintra only takes dogs at the Moorish Castle and Monserrate. Assistance dogs are welcome.

The serra is exposed to storms and fire risk, and Parques de Sintra closes sites when conditions are dangerous. Storm Martinho in March 2025 brought down around 100,000 trees in the hills and shut Capuchos for more than three months, until the access roads reopened in July 2025. Check the official page after bad weather or on very hot, dry days.

Getting there without a car takes planning. Parques de Sintra suggests the train to Sintra and then bus 1253, but warns the stop is about 40 minutes’ walk from the convent. Driving is far simpler.

Parques de Sintra runs a family activity programme for children aged 3 to 12 with their parents, led by its own instructors, and birthday parties for ages 4 to 12 at several of its sites. The programme moves between parks and monuments, so check the family activities page for anything at Capuchos.

Capuchos is on the Colares side of the hills, so it pairs well with the coast. Praia da Adraga is a sandy cove between cliffs, and the sea-water pool at Azenhas do Mar is built into the rocks below the village. For another side of Sintra, the spiral well and tunnels at Quinta da Regaleira are the opposite of Capuchos in every way, and older children who liked the hermit’s cave may enjoy the night walks with ghost stories in the hills.

Is the Convento dos Capuchos good for young children?

For children from about four who like dens and small spaces, yes. It’s dim and uneven with low doorways and steps, so toddlers need holding and buggies don’t work inside.

How long does the visit take?

About an hour for the convent. Allow longer if you want to find the hermit’s cave and walk in the forest.

Is it free for residents?

Yes, on Sundays and national holidays, for anyone living in Portugal who shows a Cartão de Cidadão at the ticket office.

Can you get there by public transport?

Only with a long walk. Take the train to Sintra and bus 1253; Parques de Sintra says the convent is about 40 minutes on foot from the stop.

Is there a café?

None is listed at the convent. Bring water and a snack, and plan lunch in Colares or Sintra.