Founded as a convent for the Carmelite Order in 1389. The medieval convent was ruined in the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, and the ruins of its Gothic church (Igreja do Carmo) are the main trace of the great earthquake still visible in the city. The Convent library and its 5000 books were all lost. The convent was remodelled and eventually became a military quarters. The church was never fully rebuilt and was donated in 1864 to the Association of Portuguese Archaeologists, which turned the ruined building into a museum.