‏‏‎ Cloister

Little remains of the original Madre de Deus Convent building founded in 1509 by Queen Leonor, the wife of King João II. This large cloister did not exist at that time, it was built around 1551, during the reign of King João III and Queen Catherine of Austria. Unfortunately, the first building was built very close to the Tagus River which, in those days, nearly reached the convent’s gates and had a boat anchorage nearby. Since frequent flooding caused much damage to the nuns’ belongings, and since the Royal House was very attentive to the convent’s needs, the king ordered a new church and the current cloister to be built on higher ground safe from the river. The cloister forms an enormous square, and a corridor runs along the whole building’s inner wall facing the garden patio. The garden contains five perfect arches on each side separated by large buttresses. Today, the corridor is enclosed by large windows and may be used for temporary exhibitions, concerts, dinners and other events. Glass doors enable visitors to enter the garden for a closer look at the marble fountain. The fountain consists of a large bowl supported by 6 small statues of men, each one bearing an engraved caption. Their conversation begins with one man saying "Help me", to which the other little men reply in sequence: "As best as I can", "And you, why don’t you help?", "I can’t hold it any longer!", "It’s very heavy", to which the last one declares, "God help us all"!