Queen Leonor Museum

Largo da Conceição - 7800 Beja
Phone: (+351) 284.323.351

URL: Queen Leonor Museum

Queen Leonor Museum
Passing the Mértola gate, which leads to the Conde da Boavista square, the former Royal Convent of Our Lady of the Conception, classified as a national monument, hosts now the Regional Museum.

The exterior architecture is dazzling, with a Manueline portal, Gothic arches and platbands carved to ressemble lace.

The entrance is made through the vestibule (low choir), displaying images of the convent's founders.

The church's body, lined with gilded wood-work, begins here.

Inside, it is worth admiring the blue and white tiles depicting religious scenes, the main chapel, two carved wood altars and a third lined with Florentine mosaic.

The cloister is formed by four galleries, called St.

John the Baptist, Gate (former entrance to the convent), St.

John the Evangelist and Our Lady of the Rosary, displaying different vaults and decorated with 17th-century tiles and 18th-century paintings.

Walking through the convent's labyrinth, one can also admire the Gothic portal that leads to the chapterhouse, and Flemish and Portuguese paintings from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

Upstairs, there is a section on local archaeology and the famous Mértola window, where the nun Mariana Alcoforado sighed for her lover.

The Visigothic Nucleus of the Museu Rainha Dona Leonor is installed at Santo Amaro Church.