Works were not completed until 1641 due to restrictions on building activities to ensure it would, if necessary, be possible to expand the fortress standing on the site that is now the Cascais Citadel.

By 1777 the convent had an apothecary, which seems to have had a local monopoly on the sale of Água de Inglaterra, a medicine containing quinine that was used for the treatment of malaria.

From 1870 the royal family started spending part of the summer in Cascais and Portuguese nobility wished to be close to the king.

After the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, the assets of Banco Espírito Santo and the family, which had been very close to the dictatorial Estado Novo regime, were taken over by the state and the building was initially used to house Portuguese returnees from the country's former colonies.

The Centre has an auditorium in the former chapel, with a capacity of 144 seats, suitable for hosting seminars and recitals, as well as a restaurant/cafeteria in an interior courtyard.