Our school is in the village of Alpiarça, district of Santarém, Ribatejo, on the left side of Tejo´s river. It has been a single parish since 1914 and some sites are considered Archaeological National Patrimony. It´s an area of 94km, mainly flat level with 3 distinct areas: fields, transition and barren land.

Our climate is Mediterranean, with hot and dry summers and wet mild winters. When it rains hard, the river overflows and floods enrich the soil.

Our land is fertile in cereals and vineyard as well as melon and watermelon.

THE HOUSE Built in 1903, the house was completed in 1921. Its architect was Raul Lino, of German descent, that would later become a famous architect in Portugal. The house was improved and as time went by, new rooms were added to the original; it has about 100 rooms. The house has got 2 floors and an attic and it is filled with sculptures, porcelains, musical instruments, famous paintings (one of which is unique in the world) furniture, personal accessories, toys, shoes, clothes, jewelry, make-up, personal hygiene articles and bags, books and travelling suitcases.

José Relvas was a huge Art collector and throughout the years he acquired many art pieces that are now in his house (about 10000 pieces).

Portuguese porcelain (Beethoven jar ); Josefa de Óbidos painting;

Arraiolos carpet in silk; Renaissance Portuguese painting.

José Relvas: a political man, devoted to culture and arts, being a huge collector (in the house there are about 10.000 art pieces: among which paintings by Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro and José Malhoa, several pieces of porcelain, jewelry, furniture as well as musical instruments (Relvas himself, played the violin) tiles, tapestry, sculptures and porcelain. At the library there are many 1st edition books about Politics, History, Art and Agriculture.

José Relvas married to D. Eugénia Relvas and they had 3 children (Luísa, Carlos and João). When the House was inaugurated, there was music, dinner and ball that lasted for 3 days. In his will, José Relvas required that wine was made and all the money donated/invested in social and charity work. Along with his death, he left money to his workers and his servant, Xavier, still lived in the house for a long time.

Eugénia Antónia de Loureiro da Silva Mendes (José Relvas´wife ): Born in July 19th , 1865 and died in May 30th, 1951 , she played the harp. In the house there are jewels, rice powder boxes and hats that belonged to her. Mª Luísa Relvas (José Relvas´daughter) She died with typhoid fever. She played the violin like her father and brother. João Relvas (José Relvas’ son ) Died a very young man with typhoid fever. He played the violin with her brother and father. In the house there are photos of João playing and riding horses. There are also school notebooks and French lessons.

Carlos Relvas (José Relvas´son ): The middle child. He was a professional pianist. He committed suicide at 35 (in December 1919) in his bedroom. There are many myths around his death: some say he belonged to a different political party than his father, thus having the mission of killing him; some say he didn´t love his wife (he died the morning after his marriage) or that he was homosexual, but none of this has been proved .

There are many portraits of him, including one next to the piano where he used to practice. That piano has never been played again and there were severe instructions that the painting would never be moved away from the piano. There are portraits of him playing and riding horses.