The Convent of Vilar de Frades is located in Areias de Vilar, Barcelos, and was supposedly founded in 556 by Bishop S. Martinho de Dume, although this is not proven. No traces remain from that time, as the Muslim invasions caused its ruin. The place began as a Benedictine monastery in the 11th century.

In 1425, it was handed over to a new congregation, the Canons of S. Salvador de Vilar de Frades, known as Lóios, becoming the mother house of the congregation in Portugal.

In 1834, the Convent of Vilar de Frades passed to the State and was subsequently sold at public auction. Of an area of 90 hectares, everything was sold to private individuals, except for the church, the sacristy and the cloister, which was destined to be used as a parish residence. The wings of the convent and the fence of the convent were closed and sold to private individuals, being initially transformed into a farm. In 1953 it was bought by Artur Cupertino de Miranda who, in 1957, sold it to the Hospitaller Order of S. João de Deus which, to this day, has a presence there with the Casa de Saúde S. José, for people with mental disabilities. disorders.

In the 1960s, the Hospitaller Order of S. João de Deus ceded the fountain of the cloister of the Convent of Vilar de Frades, which today is located in Largo da Porta Nova and is classified as a National Monument, to the City Council of Barcelos.

Since 1910 it has been considered a national monument. In 1994 the works of requalification of the Convent of Vilar de Frades began and in 2006 the space was opened to the public.