It began in 1215, when the english merchant Haidebrant brought in his ship an image of Our Lady with Jesus infant, carved in stone and retired from the chapel of a Benidictine Convent. The image disappeared during a storm in portuguese waters and with Lisbon at sight. However, the ship succeded in turning the Espichel Cape, and arriving finally to Alpertuche, were the sea was peaceful. The sailor, resting from the storm, sighted an intense light in the top of the Arrabida Mountain, which he climbed up amid the thicket. He soon found the miraculous image. He then sold all his possessions and ordered the construction of a chapel, where he proposed himself to live alone. Some decades past, the Duke of Aveiro, D. João de Lencastre, asked the Superior General of the Franciscan Order to send a small community of friars to live in the Arrabida retreat. The duke, visiting Guadalupe, contacted an important spanish nobleman, to whom he explained his idea. This nobleman was to come the famous Friar Martinho de Santa Maria, after having founded the Arrabida Convent. The invitation was so accepted, and the recovering of the built areas (with the Memory Chapel) was studied afterwards, together with the utilization of the surrounding grounds.

Arrábida Convent

• Category: Nature
• Photo by: Pedro J. Rodrigues
• Add Date: 12.12.2014 08:54

Tags: Arrábida Convent