Fábrica de São Paulo - Vila Viçosa, Portugal - Unoccupied Buildings, Shacks, and Cabins on Waymarking.com

Originally this building belonged to the congregation of the monks of Serra d’Ossa.

It was built around 1590 on the southern walls of Cerca Nova, a fortified site from the 16th century. The patron of the Convent was D. Teodósio II, 7th Duke of Bragança, who financed the works which lasted until 1613. The sacristy was considered the most sumptuous in Vila Viçosa.

It had a magnificent white marble altar and a hexagonal table that is currently found in the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Conceição. The image of São Paulo was moved to the church of S. Bartolomeu. The images of São José and Nossa Senhora do Amparo enriched the temple of Santo António. It also had a landscaped cloister with a well in the middle, as well as a cellar.

After the extinction of the religious orders in 1834, the building was adapted as a theater.
In 1836, it functions as a barracks for the 4th Infantry Regiment. In 1867, the Convent was ceded by the State to the City Council, to be built on its land as a public cemetery (São José Cemetery, where the Municipal Forest is currently located).

In 1885, the land and buildings in São Paulo were sold to a private individual, and the resulting amount was applied by the City Council in the construction of the new cemetery next to the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.

In 1892, it was already in an advanced state of disrepair.

Most of the architectural materials of the Convent were used and are distributed in different places in Vila Viçosa. The cloister was almost completely demolished and the Ratinho bridge was built from its arches, on the way to São Romão.

In 1921, the ruins of the Convent and the land belonging to it were sold to SOFAL (Sociedade Fabril Alentejana), which adapted the building for refining oil and for milling flour. I still have a vague idea of ??seeing SOFAL working, around 1981-82. I remember seeing the sacks of cereal coming out of a small hole on the building's façade, along the road to Largo D. João IV.

The building was later acquired by businessman Joe Berardo and later passed to the property of BES (a bank). It is currently for sale.

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