The convent of São Francisco do Monte in Viana do Castelo (Portugal): an integrated digital survey for the understanding of the architecture and its landscape

This paper deals with the first results of one of the significant case studies to be deepened within the European project “F-ATLAS, Franciscan Landscapes: the Observance between Italy, Portugal and Spain”. The project aims to study the Italian-Spanish-Portuguese Franciscan Observance network to define an “Atlas” of documentation and knowledge for conservation, protection, and promotion of this Cultural Heritage. The convent of São Francisco do Monte in Viana do Castelo is one of the first three convents funded by the Ordo fratrum minorum in Portugal. The analyses aimed at investigate the evolution of the religious settlment to build a three-dimensional database. The case study has been deepened by an integrated digital survey: Aerial Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Photogrammetry, to document the current state of conservation and to investigate the traces of the past and the relationship between the complex and the surrounding landscape.