came from our convent in the city of Ponta Delgada..." The convent and church were sacked by Barbary coast pirates in 1616, and once again, in 1675. Reconstruction of the convent only occurred 1725, under the initiative of friar Agostinho de São Francisco, who was responsible for conserving the original azulejo tiles. Since 1689, the cloister and interior garden became the place where classes in rhetoric and Latin were held (these classes were famous in the archipelago for being open to all interested, regardless of their social condition). The curriculum included: a first and second class in Latin; rhetoric (then referred to as aula prima (first class); and moral theology. In 1791, Queen Maria I of Portugal, indicated her interest in establishing a chair in grammar at the convent, and on 23 March 1792, she established the appropriate stipend to support these classes. The 1799 execution of an organ, by Joaquim António Peres Fontanes, was undertaken, but it was eventually transferred to the Church of São José. By the beginning of the 19th century (in 1808 and 1822) the convent was expanded and remodelled. Following the expulsion of the religious orders, on 18 October 1833, the Fazenda Nacional took over the property. In 1842 and, again in 1979, restoration projects were completed in the convent. By 31 July 1970 it had already been classified as a Property of Public Interest in decree 251/70 by the Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGEMN) (General-Directorate for Buildings and National Monuments). Since this time, the building has been used by the local municipal authority (Câmara Municipal de Vila do Porto), including the Tribunal da Comarca de Vila do Porto (municipal courts) and the Secção de Finanças e Tesouraria (finances and treasury). Architecture The group of buildings is actually oriented around the principal entranceway-tower, and includes a rectangular two-story building and courtyard (cloister) grafted to the portico/clock-tower of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Vitória and the Chapel of the Terceiros. Church The Church of Nossa Senhora da Vitória (Our Lady of Victory)is a long rectangular temple grafted along one wall of the cloister (to the right of the main entranceway) and is also three storeys tall. The main chapel, similarly rectangular, but much narrower, is covered in a vaulted ceiling with a niche located opposite the main entrance. On the nave wall on the side of the epistle, is the Chapel of Santo