Manuel I gave the monastery to the Order of Saint Jerome, and construction began on January 6, 1501. It was funded by the Vintena da Pimenta, a 5 percent tax on commerce from Africa and the Orient. Diogo de Boitaca drew the first plans and laid out the church and cloister. Juan de Castilho took charge around 1517, and Nicolau Chanterene built the western portal that year. Diogo de Torralva resumed work in 1550, and Jerónimo de Ruão in 1571. Construction stopped in 1580.
The style is Manueline, with nautical motifs carved in lioz limestone. The church has three aisles of equal height under one vault, about 62 feet (19 m) wide, on six octagonal columns about 82 feet (25 m) high. The cloister is about 180 feet (55 m) square.
The monastery suffered little in the 1755 earthquake. Vasco da Gama and Luís de Camões were moved to new tombs in 1880. UNESCO listed it in 1983.
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