Coimbra - Convento de Santa Clara-a-Nova

Since the old Convent of Santa Clara was almost completely destroyed in the 17th C. a new convent, the Convento de Santa-Clara-a-Nova, was built between 1649 and 1696 to the right on the Monte da Esperança. It is possible to visit the convent church, cloister and the rooms containing a small military museum. The other buildings now serve as a barracks.

The Renaissance convent church is dedicated to St Isabel, wife of King Dinis and Coimbra's patron saint, and contains her silver shrine (1614) which was originally in the old convent and was transferred here to its current position in the choir by Pedro II at the end of the 17th C. St Isabel's empty stone sarcophagus is also worth seeing. Dating from the early 14th C. it is borne on six crouching lions, with the recumbent figure of the queen dressed in the simple habit of the Poor Clares but wearing a crown to show her rank.