In possession of the Bishopric of Coimbra since 1094, the Forest was donated in 1628 by the then Bishop of Coimbra, D. João Manuel, to the Order of the Barefoot Carmelites for the construction of its Desert in Portugal. Construction started in August of that year, the construction of the convent and its fence would end in 1639. Regular monastic life began earlier, around 1630. The convent of Santa Cruz, built in the simplicity required by the hermitic vocation of the Desert, it presents a unique plan in Portugal: the church (where a double plan is perceived between the Greek cross and the Latin cross, through the junction of the choir) dominates a space without a cloister, with the patios printing the set regularly. In this very original idea of ​​spiritual enjoyment, the church is inscribed within a simulated cloister space, recovering the organization of the mythical idea of ​​the Temple of Jerusalem.