Desterro Hospital

The ancient monastery of Nossa Senhora do Desterro remains to this day an architectonic landmark of vital importance, part of the ensemble of the large monastic complexes built during the Philippine period. Built to be the main house of the religious order of Saint Bernard, it ended up as an asylum for its friars. With the 1755 earthquake, a large area of the ensemble is destroyed and, with the extinction of religious orders, the building adapts to its use as a hospital. Its long history as a hospital — from 1857 to 2007 — comes to an end leaving behind an uncertain future to be written. The building is acquired in 2013, marking the start of an intervention project aiming to rehabilitate and re-use the Desterro Hospital, contracting the exploitation, for a period of time, to a promoter, with the objective of adapting the space to the exploration and production of cultural events. In 2015, the first cleaning and demolition work was carried out, revealing the building’s extraordinary features. The hospital will be open to the public, as a cultural hub, integrated in the rehabilitation of Avenida Almirante Réis and adjacent neighbourhoods.