The Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon is the oldest higher level education academy of Fine Arts in Portugal. Rooted in the Academy of Fine Arts (which was founded in 1836), the Faculty of Fine Arts has been transformed into an art school which is closely linked to contemporary art and design, with a permanent and ongoing concern with playing an active role in the present-day culture.Its location, in the historic centre of the city – in the Convent of São Francisco, Chiado, a centre of modern culture affirmation since the 19th Century – is associated with the spirit that the Faculty of Fine Arts wishes to materialize: to develop an artistic culture, synchronising it with the present time and to implement artistic and research skills in the fields of art and design, that are able to meet the challenges presented by the global knowledge circulation nowadays.