If you walk to the center of Portimao, you can see the ruins of the monastery of St. Francis, located at the mouth of the River Arade. The monastery was yet another name - the monastery of Nossa Senhora do Esperansa (Monastery of the Virgin of Hope). Despite the fact that from the monastery almost nothing left, this place attracts many lovers of historical monuments and wanting to enjoy the beautiful views of the Arade River. It will be interesting to see the same architectural features of the church, the monastery and the gallery of the Chapter House.

The monastery was founded in 1530 and has been a favorite vacation spot for visiting dignitaries. In fact, when the monks came to this place, there has been a church, later began to finish building other facilities. In 1573 the city was visited by King Sebastian of Portugal I and partook at a solemn Mass.

In 1755, when there was a Lisbon earthquake that destroyed many historical monuments and other buildings in the country were damaged dome of the church, and also destroyed several buildings of the monastery complex. Later, church property was transferred to private ownership, and the premises of the monastery began to gradually deteriorate. Some time in the monastery even kept cork. In 1884 there was a fire, and the monastery was almost destroyed.

In 1911, the year of the monastery were virtually in ruins, the land became known industrialist João Antonio Judis Fialho. He adapted the property of the monastery to support the production process in the cannery. Today, the Portuguese Government is taking all steps to restore this national monument.