Convento do Carmo

I am smitten with Convento do Carmo, the late 14th century Gothic ruins that crown the Chiado neighborhood in Lisboa. Could it be any more picturesque? Founded in 1389, it was a convent of the Carmelite Order. Now with its open-to-the-air arches and crumbling walls, it is the last reminder of the devastating earthquake that decimated Lisboa in 1755. We have walked around the outside of the ruins but never had time to go in. The day we visited, the light was absolutely perfect for the mysterious mood of the medieval ruins and my Leica perfectly suited this type of photography and my kids were so gorgeous in this landscape so it was hard to stop shooting and there may be too many photos attached but....sigh. I find that I just can't get enough of beautiful arches of white and old tombs. After wandering through the courtyard, we went into the attached archeological museum where we saw a wide variety of old things spanning millennia; neolithic arrowheads, tombs, two mummified children found in a cave during Portuguese conquests in Peru, as well as an Egyptian mummy sarcophagus. The Convent also shares a wall with the Portuguese National Guard and the square outside, Largo do Carmo, was the scene of the final moments of the Carnation Revolution. Civilians and soldiers with carnations in the gun barrels packed the square as the last of dictator Salazar's regime toppled.

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