CONVENT AND CHURCH OF SÃO GONÇALO

One of the oldest convents in the Azores, dating from 1545. Built by the Franciscans for the Poor Clares, it has two cloisters. At the entrance, a passageway in the wall was dug out to deposit gifts for the sisters or abandoned children. The convent features biblical scenes, with Pharaohs and Roman soldiers looking very much like ^16th-century men. The church, with its Spanish-Arabic Baroque ceiling, is packed with carved jacarandas and azulejos. Worth seeing.