The construction of the Convent was ordered in 1389. Situated in a privileged position, over Rossio and the São Jorge Castle hill, right in the cosmopolitan Chiado quarter.The Church of the Convent, that once was Lisboa’s main Gothic church, is one of the testimonies left by the big earthquake of 1755 still visible in the city. The convent occasionally was a military dependence and, during the Portuguese coup d'état of 25th April 1974, the Carnation Revolution, it was in the barracks of this monument that the still President at that time, Marcelo Caetano, refuged from the rebellious soldiers. In the last century, the monument became the headquarters of the Portuguese Archaeological Association which founded the Carmo Archaeological Museum that exhibits pieces related to the history of Lisbon, from pre-historic times through to the Middle Ages and features an impressive collection of medieval religious and heraldic items.