After the expulsion of the religious orders the convent began a slow decline, and was eventually expropriated by the Portuguese Armed Forces as an administrative post and garrison.

Its construction began in the 17th century, specifically in 1652, under the influence of D. Helena de Boim, wife of the captain-major Francisco Gil da Silveira.

[1] After the construction of a chapel, dedicated to the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Boa Nova (Our Lady of Good News), D. Helena de Boim decided to create a hospice, in order to lodge Carmelite friars, that included round-trips through the kingdom to the States of Brazil and Maranhão.

[1] A similar earthquake rocked the islands of the central group on 9 July 1998, provoking destruction in the areas of Ribeirinha, Pedro Miguel, Salão and Cedros, and destroying homes in Castelo Branco (Lombega), Flamengos and Praia do Almoxarife.

[1][2] By the time of the 1926 earthquake its role had changed significantly, and continued in the possession of the Ministry of Defense to the present, functioning as a military post, thereby affecting its use as a tourist landmark.

[2] The church of the old Convent of Carmo comprises a single nave to a narrower chancel, covered in a vaulted ceiling, and two lateral bodies marked by two chapels.