Classified as a National Monument since June 16, 1910, the Mosteiro de Santa Clara-a-Velha is located on the left bank of the Mondego River, in Coimbra. Founded for the first time at the end of the 13th century by Dona Mor Dias, a lady of the nobility, it was refounded in the 14th century by Isabel de Aragão who, after becoming a widow after the death of King D. Dinis, expressed the desire to be buried there.

The ruins of Santa Clara-a-Velha of Coimbra comprise, besides the magnificent church with very peculiar characteristics, a cloister of monumental dimensions, making it the largest known Gothic cloister in Portugal. The complex has an interpretive center, a museum center, an auditorium, a shop and a cafeteria.