In Sanlucar la Mayor18 kilometers from Seville, is one of the cloistered convents oldest and most beautiful in Andalusia, the San José Convent of the Barefoot Carmelite Mothers. Founded in 1590 and active to this day, it can boast of its baroque church with its rich and unique rooms. To reveal the history and heritage value of this building, Cultural Routes Sevilla proposes a guided visit where to delve into it and learn about the personality of its founder, Saint Teresa of Jesus.
Maria Jesus Rodriguez is the guide for the visit to the Convent of San José de Carmelitas Descalzas. He tells how this building has been “located in Sanlúcar la Mayor for more than four hundred years. It is one of the oldest foundations in Andalusia from the Reformation carried out by Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross, a direct result of the stay in Seville of the distinguished Saint, for the summer of 1576”.
The foundation of the convent took place on May 9, 1590 when the provincial of the Discalced Carmelites left for Sanlúcar la Mayor, accompanied by four nuns from the convent of the city of Seville to carry out this new foundation in the Sevillian Aljarafe. “All this long history has as a consequence an important historical, artistic and documentary heritageof a great spirituality reflected in the town”, details the guide.
Origin of the convent in Sanlúcar la Mayor
The origin of the convent can be found in the young woman from Sanlúcar Beatrice Rodriguez that she wanted to be a nun and her father Bartolomé, who enjoyed a good economic position, bought her a house on Calle Sevilla, which gradually adapted to the new use. At first, the spirituality of the convent was closely linked to the Franciscans, since the friars from the nearby Monastery of Our Lady of Loreto, on their apostolic missions, regularly visited Sanlúcar la Mayor and the days they stayed in the town the friars stayed in the house of the couple of Bartolomé Rodríguez Torreblanca and Ana Martín, whose only daughter was attracted by the Franciscans and their spirituality, to the point that she soon exchanged her luxurious dresses for a Franciscan sackcloth. But these initial plans change because Beatriz was captivated by the personality of Mother Teresa, who years before had founded the Teresas convent in Seville.
Guided tours of the convent
Given the cloistered character of the convent inhabited by the Community of Discalced Carmelites the visits they focus on the description of the exterior and location in the place; in the zone of the compass and explanation of the origin of the convent and inside the conventual Church (which is only open at eight in the morning for the liturgical office of the mass).
Along the route, an architectural description of the building and its plan is developed, the main altarpiece, the lower choir, the nuns’ communion rail (a jewel of the Rococo) and the sacristy.
The personality is explained Santa Teresa and there is a pass to the reading of poetry as well as to the keeping of a few minutes of silence.
The guide stops at baroque altarpieces facing and matching that run along its walls and in the confessionals decorated with Delft-type tiles.
Upon reaching the lathe, atrium and parlor area, “we will personally greet one of the Carmelite mothers to find out how they live the cloister today.”
Practical information of the visit
The next visit will be Sunday October 16 at 11:00. The price is 10 euros per person (includes 21% VAT and donation to the convent). Free, under 12 years old.
As an optional formula, a gastronomic experience is offered for 2 euros per person. At the end of the visit, with the accompaniment of the guide, those who wish can visit a century-old tavern with a family winery and cellar for a tasting.
More information and ticket purchase at https://www.culturalroutessevilla.com/producto/rutas-con-alma-convento-de-clausura-de-sanlucar-la-mayor/. For arranged groups available all year round. info@culturalroutessevilla.com or WhatsApp 696 530 680.