Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assuncao (Museu Municipal de Faro)

The Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assuncao, on Praca Dom Afonso III in Faro's Cidade Velha, was founded in 1519 by Queen Leonor, widow of King John II, as a convent of the Poor Clares (Clarissas). It is the best surviving Renaissance convent complex in the Algarve and now houses the Museu Municipal de Faro. The convent stands on ground that was part of the Moorish quarter before the 1249 Christian conquest, and archaeological material from earlier periods has been found on and around the site. Its centrepiece is a two-storey Renaissance cloister, with round arches on slender columns and an upper gallery, built of local limestone and arranged around a courtyard with a central well. The cloister has an enclosed, contemplative proportion typical of Portuguese conventual architecture of the early 16th century, and the surrounding rooms include the former refectory and chapter spaces. Glazed azulejo panels in the cloister and adjoining rooms add decorative colour. After the dissolution of the religious orders in Portugal in 1834 the building was used for other purposes before being adapted to museum use in the 20th century, with repeated restoration of the roofs, galleries and facades. Inside, the museum displays Roman mosaics, including a large mosaic from Faro depicting the god Oceanus, together with inscriptions, sculpture, medieval and Moorish finds, and paintings and decorative arts from the Algarve. The visit is arranged broadly chronologically around the cloister, which lets visitors read the history of Faro from Roman Ossonoba through Moorish and Christian periods. The state of preservation is good, although conservation work is periodic and some rooms can change in availability. The convent also hosts occasional temporary exhibitions. Visitors can combine it with the nearby cathedral and the Arco da Vila, since all three stand within a few minutes of each other and together tell the story of the walled old town from antiquity to the early modern period.