The “Monasterio de las Puras”, a convent that makes you travel through time

The historic Monasterio de las Puras opens its doors to the public, with guided tours to admire one of the best preserved convents in Spain, with 500 years of uninterrupted presence in Almería, and share its spirituality

Do you want to see a convent where time seems to have stopped?

In the Spanish city of Almería, the Order of the Immaculate Conception lives in the monastery of the Franciscan Conceptionists of Almería, better known asMonasterio de las Purasin an uninterrupted way for 500 years, with a community life dedicated to prayer and work in the cloister.

Five centuries of seclusion and secrets are revealed with the opening to the public, through guided tours, to admire a perfectly preserved convent with countless jewels to admire.

Shall we begin the visit?

The convent

The convent de Las Puras it is an oasis of peace in the historic center of Almería, and six nuns live there. 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 the city.

The convent is a set of buildings and open spaces that offer architectural support to the contemplative cloistered religious life. It occupies a large part of the old part of Almería, and is located between the Cathedral, the Town Hall and Almedina.

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This is due to its origin, of the ancient Arab houses that after the reconquest by the Catholic Monarchs were ceded by the first Christian mayor of the city, Gutiérrez de Cárdenas, in his will. The widow, Teresa Enríquez, donated it to the Order of the Franciscan Conceptionists.

Eduardo Blanes, the architect restorer of the convent, defines the monastery as follows:

“The convent is structured like a micro-city with all the services for the development of cloistered life. It has a public part, in which one relates to society and which is composed of compás (an entrance patio) and the church, and an area for contemplation and prayer, consisting of two cloisters, the refectory, the chapter house, the cemetery, the work rooms and the cells, as well as basic services such as kitchen and laundry “.

Open the doors of the convent to survive

The congregation once gathered ninety nuns. Today there are far fewer, but they are not lacking in ingenuity. To avoid abandoning the convent, they found a solution: opening the spaces to the public, giving up a large part of this “small city” for visitors to admire.

Now they see themselves deprived of some of the parts that previously formed their daily intimacy, but in this way they can share their charisma with all visitors and increase income.

Guided tours

The visitor arrives at the main entrance, located in calle Cervantesand which leads to the antechamber of the convent, with the Puerta Reglar and the lathe which for centuries was the nuns’ only means of contact with the outside world.

Immediately after the entrance you enter the South Cloister, one of the great jewels of the complex, from which the rest of the dependencies are divided. On the right there is the door, closed, which leads to the cemetery where the remains of the nuns rest, which preserves the original Gothic.

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Next to it is the access to the church, which houses one of the most beautiful altarpieces in the province of Almería. From the altar, on one side, the Low Choir overlooks, from which the nuns follow the Mass.

The next stop is the area that separates the South Cloister from the Northern Cloister and the laboratory structures. There is the archive, the kitchen and the wardrobe, all places that cannot be visited. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the convent, where columns from the Arab period were taken advantage of.

Surrounding the cloister, the next stop is the refectory. The visit continues by going upstairs through stairs reconstructed with original materials. Above is the Chapter Hall.

Unique opportunity

monasteriopuras.com

Returning outside, next to a small chapel, the so-called “Prayer in the Garden”, there is the last stop, where the visitor can admire one of the cells made available for the visit. It is a small, small room with only a bed, bedside table and wardrobe.

It is a unique opportunity to learn about the kind of life that these walls have hosted and continue to host.

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 web page of theMonasterio de las Purasor enter the web of theFundación DeClausuraa non-profit initiative that helps to make known the richness of the contemplative life of Spanish monasteries and convents.

In this video you can make a virtual visit to the convent:

Thanks to the coordination work of the Fundación DeClausuraat this time 550 monasteries and convents are available to pray for the intentions of the readers of Aleteia.