The historic Monastery of Las Puras opens its doors to the public, with guided tours to admire one of the best preserved convents in Spain, with five hundred years of uninterrupted presence in Almería, and share its spirituality.
Do you want to see a convent where time has stopped?
In the city of Almería, the Order of the Immaculate Conception inhabits the monastery of the Franciscan Conceptionists of Almería, better known as Puras Monastery uninterruptedly for five hundred years, with life in community dedicated to prayer and work in closure.
monasterypuras.com
Five centuries of secrets, from the closure, are revealed to us by the opening to the public, through guided tours, to admire and enjoy a perfectly preserved convent, with innumerable jewels that we can admire.
Shall we start the visit?
Convent
The Convent of Las Puras is a haven of peace in the middle of the historic center of Almería, where six nuns live. Now the nuns will see their routine altered with the visits of tourists who want to admire the beauty of the building, which is part of the history of their city.
The convent is a set of buildings and free spaces that give architectural support to the cloistered contemplative religious life. It occupies almost a complete block of the heart of the old town of Almería, located between the Cathedral, City Hall and Almedina.
Closing
This is due to its origin, some old Arab houses, which, after the reconquest of the Catholic Monarchs, the first Christian mayor of the city, Gutiérrez de Cárdenas, gave in his will. His widow, Teresa Enríquez, handed him over to the Order of the Franciscan Conceptionists.
Eduardo Blanes, the restorer architect of the Convent, defines the convent with these words:
«The convent is structured as a micro-city with all the services for the development of cloistered life. It has a public part, where they relate to society, and which is the compás (an entrance courtyard) and the Church, and an area for contemplation and prayer, made up of two cloisters, the refectory, chapter house, cemetery, rooms of work and cells in addition to other basic services such as kitchen and laundry.
Open the doors of the convent to survive
This congregation came to gather ninety nuns at one time. Today there are far fewer, but they are not lacking in wit. To avoid leaving the convent they have found a solution: open the space to the public; give up a large part of this little unknown city so that visitors can admire it.
They are now deprived of some of the parts that used to make up the intimacy of their day-to-day life, but in this way they can share their charisma with all the visitors and receive cheap tickets.
A guided tour
The visitor arrives through the main entrance of the nuns, located on Calle Cervantes, and which takes them to the antechamber of the convent; with the Puerta Regular and the turnstile that for centuries has been the only means of contact for the nuns with the outside world.
As soon as you pass the entrance, you access the South Cloister, one of the great jewels of the enclosure, from which the rest of the rooms are articulated. On the right, the door, closed, to the cemetery where the remains of the nuns rest, which preserves its original Gothic lintel.
Closing
Next to it, the access to the Church, which houses one of the most beautiful altarpieces in the province of Almería. From the altar, on one side, appears, behind bars, the Lower Choir, from there, the nuns follow the mass.
The next stop is the corridor, which separates the South Cloister from the North Cloister and the workshop facilities where they work; they have the archive, the kitchen or the wardrobe, all of these places that cannot be accessed during the visit. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the convent, in which columns from the Arab period have been used.
Surrounding the cloister, the next stop is the refectory, continuing the visit continues up to the upper floor; up some stairs reconstructed with original materials and at the top, the Chapter House awaits.
unique opportunity
monasterypuras.com
Back outside, next to a small chapel, the so-called “Prayer in the Garden”, is the last stop; where the visitor can see one of the cells that has been left open for visits. A small room of reduced dimensions, with just a bed, wardrobe and bedside table, for the rest of the cloistered nuns.
This is a unique opportunity to learn about the very special type of life that the walls of this place have housed and continue to house.
To be able to visit this living jewel of religious art and admire the contemplative life of silence and prayer of the nuns, you can consult the website of the convent Puras Monastery. Or by going to the website Closing Foundation; a non-profit initiative that helps to publicize the richness of the contemplative life of the monasteries and convents of Spain.
In this video you can make a virtual visit to the convent.
