Mosterio de Santa Clara-a-Nova

The Mosteiro de Santa Clara-a-Nova is a Baroque Franciscan convent in Coimbra, situated on the south bank of the Mondego river on the hillside above the site of the original Santa Clara-a-Velha monastery, which was abandoned due to persistent flooding in the seventeenth century. The new convent was begun in 1649 and completed over several decades.

The complex is architecturally imposing: a large rectangular Baroque church with a plain granite facade and an attached convent building, all set on a broad hilltop terrace with views across the Mondego to the historic upper city. The church interior contains the silver tomb of Queen Saint Isabel of Portugal, patron saint of Coimbra and one of the most venerated figures in Portuguese religious history.

For pilgrims on the Camino Português, the Santa Clara hillside is a natural arrival point on the south bank of the Mondego, and the crossing into Coimbra here has been used by pilgrims since the medieval period.