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The Convent of S. Francisco was founded in the early 16th century. Throughout its history, it served as a hospital, and housed an important textile factory. Acquired by the Coimbra City Council, the building was recovered and assumes its new vocation as a Cultural and Congress Centre. The exact date of the arrival of the first Franciscans to Coimbra is uncertain, but it is known that their presence in the city dates back to 1226. Initially, it was a small community of friars, descendants of the founders of the Order, whose presence in the city is associated with the episode of the five Martyrs of Morocco*. In 1247, the foundation of the primitive building of the Convent of São Francisco meant the growth of the presence of Franciscans in Coimbra. Located next to the Ponte de Santa Clara, on the left bank of the Mondego, the name of the former Convent has remained in the collective memory as São Francisco da Ponte. The floodings of Mondego river, forced the friars to build a new building in a safer location, at the edge of Santa Clara Hill. The Bull of Pope Julius II, granted to King Manuel in 1506, authorized the change of Order, but the primitive Convent was only definitively abandoned at the end of the 16th century. Despite being vacant, the building was leased for a period of two years, before being destroyed in 1641. The first stone of the new Convent of São Francisco was laid on May 2, 1602, with a project probably designed by the architect Vicenzo Cazale. On November 29, 1609, the Franciscans occupied the new Convent, although the works continued until the end of the century. The Venerable Third Order was established in the Convent of São Francisco in 1659. Living with the friars was not always peaceful and was at the origin of many transformations in various convent spaces and in the church. In Coimbra, the participation of the population in the war of resistance against the French troops was impressive, spreading to the most diverse sectors of local society, with direct implications for the new building of the Convent of São Francisco. During the period of the French Invasions (1807-1810), troops occupied the Convent, which served as a barracks and hospital, leaving a trail of looting, destruction and death. In the archaeological campaigns carried out between 2010 and 2013, bones and other remains were discovered, namely buttons, buckles and medals, which must have belonged to soldiers of the Napoleonic invasions. During the 19th century, with the extinction of the Religious Orders in 1834, the Convent would assume other functions. On November 20, 1854, the church of the Convent of São Francisco became the seat of the new parish of Santa Clara. In 1875, the church was detached and the desecration order of the extinct Convent was joined by the parish priests of Santa Clara and S. Bartolomeu. The former church was transformed into a pasta factory, owned by José Vitorino Botelho de Miranda. It was sold in 1842 to José Mello Soares Albergaria, to house a steam factory for spinning, twisting, weaving and dyeing cotton, wool and silk. Founded in 1875 under the name Companhia de Fiação e fabrics de Coimbra, this factory closed a few years later. In 1884, the convent building belonged to José Lopes Guimarães, owner of large wine warehouses. The trade and industry society Peig, Planas e C.ª was formed in July 1888 and set up a textile factory in the Convent. At the time, the factory facilities were leased to Emídio Júlio Navarro. Dedicated to the spinning and manufacture of wool and fabric fabrics, Fábrica Planas occupied all of the convent spaces and the church, combining mechanical and manual looms. Working for almost a century, the factory became Clarcoop - fabrics and clothing in the late 70s of the 20th century. Continuing to operate under this designation during the 1980s, this cooperative was made up of workers from the former Santa Clara Wool Factory and, in smaller numbers, from other textile factories located in Coimbra and nearby areas. In July 1986, the building was acquired by the Coimbra City Council. After several years without permanent occupancy and with occasional events, especially in the artistic domain, the requalification works of the former Convent of São Francisco began in October 2010. Designed by the architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça, the project carried out by the Coimbra City Council. The monument was rehabilitated, giving it a contemporary dynamic, while maintaining the original design, also contemplating the construction of an auditorium with capacity of 1125 seats.
In 2015, work began on the restoration of the former church of the Convent of São Francisco which, was handed over to the Coimbra City Council in January 2009. The architectural project for the restoration of the church is the responsibility of Gonçalo Byrne. This municipal intervention provided Convento São Francisco with an auditorium, unique in the country, which transformed the building into a Cultural and Congress Center, reopened to the public on April 8, 2016. A space with unique characteristics in the national context that contributes to the enrichment and cultural notoriety of Coimbra. Municipal equipment is also an agent for the economic development of the territory, boosting various strategic sectors, namely tourism. Currently, the São Francisco Convent , is a Cultural and Congress Center with a space that combines culture, knowledge and innovation.
* In 1219 St. Francis sent five of his religious brothers to preach the faith in Morocco, where they suffered martyrdom. Their adventures are related in a Passio compiled from various sources in the third volume of the Analecta Franciscana (579-96).
In 1219 the historical Caliph of Morocco was only 16 years old and under the tutelage of his adult relatives, but the text imagines him as completely in charge. At first he reacts to the Franciscans' preaching by sending them back to Europe, but they keep returning and preaching an uncompromising call to Christ and denunciation of Islam. He imprisons them without food or water, he has them tortured, he offers them women and wealth if they will convert, all to no avail. At last, on January 16 of the following year, he kills them with his own sword and hands the bodies over to the mob to be kicked around and mutilated.
The painting in Assisi departs from the Passio by showing the five brothers assassinated by a whole crew of Saracen soldiers rather than just the Caliph. But the soldier on the far right is attacking the kneeling brother in the way the Caliph killed them all, cleaving their heads in two with his sword.
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