Father António José Ferreira Caldas, writing in 1881, referred to the site as being in a state of ruins, serving as a barracks for various regiments and battalions. He made detailed description of what existed, including the grande courtyard, its main façade with one floor, lateral and posterior façades slightly taller, chapel door, the columns that supported the courtyard's gallery, its Flemish stained-glass windows in the chapel and diverse tiled chimneys. This was complimented in a similar report in 1886 by Vilhena Barbosa who also mentioned the columns in the northeastern lateral façade that supported the porch.