About us
History
A few words from the new owners,
new owners
For us, Convent’Bio is more than a business — it is a responsibility and an honor.
When we arrived here in 2023, we felt the history rooted in these walls and the energy of a land that has nourished generations.
Our commitment is simple: to preserve the legacy of sustainability, respect, and authenticity that has shaped this place since its origins. Every ingredient, every flavor, and every experience we create is guided by that promise.
We are proud to continue this story and grateful to all who choose to be part of it.
Open since 2019
The History starts over 6 years ago, when convent´bio opened his restaurant…
How it all started
Foundation and Royal Promise
On a summer day, 18 June 1550, Queen Catherine of Habsburg, through Friar Bento Bueno, expressed her desire to establish a Carmelite house in this region.
Shortly afterwards, still in the same year, Pedro Fernandes, scribe of the Royal Chamber, laid the foundations of the convent.
It was the beginning of a spiritual refuge — far from the bustle of the town, yet close to the heart of the Algarve’s nature.
Breath of the Earth — Earthquakes and Ruin
On the tragic 1st of November 1755, the great earthquake that struck Portugal also reached the Carmo of Lagoa.
The walls, which had once echoed countless prayers, trembled, and the convent suffered severe damage. The earth shook as if to remind those ancient stones of the fragility of humankind.
That moment marked the end of an era — a lament petrified in the cracked stone.
Departure of the Friars
Centuries later, on 8 October 1825, the Carmelite friars abandoned the convent for good.
The cloister fell silent, and the sacred place was left to the wind and time, turning into ruins until the mid-1830s.
Silence reigned in the corridors that had once been vibrant with faith.
Documents and Memory
Despite the fallen stones and empty hallways, the legacy of the convent survived on paper.
In 1867, many manuscripts were transferred to the National Archive Torre do Tombo, and part of them returned to the site on 14 May 1894, restoring a thread of memory between past and present.
Those ancient words, now preserved, once again whispered secrets of vocations and old harvests.
Rebirth in Green: the Creation of Convent’Bio
After centuries, the Carmo witnessed the beginning of a new chapter.
On 5 July 2019, Convent’Bio was officially inaugurated, born from the passion and vision of Lagoa entrepreneur José Vitorino Mendes Pina.
The former garden of the Carmelite friars — where crops once grew without pesticides and in natural cycles — flourished again with organic vegetables, fruits, and greens.
Thus, the convent, which had known both seclusion and ruin, was reborn as a “sanctuary of organic products,” forever connected to the soil protected by the centuries.