Almeria- Church of Santa Clara Convent

Church of Santa Clara Convent

The Church of Santa Clara Convent is located in C/ Jovellanos, near the Parish Church of San Sebastián, the Parish Church of Santiago Apostol and the Parish Church of San Pedro, in the Andalusian city o Almeria, Spain.

On the part of the Catholic Monarchs, in 1490, the distributor Vargas was commissioned to build a monastery for the Order of Santa Clara. However, this mandate was not carried out. After the Reconquest, Don Gutiérrez de Cárdenas ordered in his will the foundation of a convent of the Poor Clares, in the houses and orchards that corresponded to him in the Repartimiento de Almería. Due to the decision of the widow of Don Gutiérrez de Cárdenas to change the ownership of the foundation, the will was not executed.

Subsequently, the Briceño family, owner of the land, on which the church is currently built, provides in their will that when direct descendants of the family are lacking, the monastery will be constituted. In 1719 they asked the Bishop, the dean and the guardian of the Convent of San Francisco for a royal certificate for the foundation of the convent, taking effect on August 10, 1756.

Later, during the War of Independence, the monastic facilities were used by the French for offices. In 1835, as a consequence of the confiscation, the monastery was abolished, passing the temple to the Bishopric and the closure to barracks. The nuns of Santa Clara remained in San Antón until the end of the 19th century. On July 26, 1894, a Royal Order was given by which the property of the convent was returned to the nuns, although they could not settle again until five years later.

During the civil war the convent was destroyed, leaving only the factory of the church. The poor financial means of the Poor Clares made them consent to transform the destroyed convent into a site in exchange for a home. At present the convent has been reduced to two wings parallel and perpendicular to the structure of the church. This part of the convent was built after the civil war, corresponding to late historicist forms.

Almería Town Hall