The Monastery of Santa María de Aguas Vivas, located in the municipality of Carcaixent (Valencia), Spain, is a religious building dating back to the 13th century. The current building was built during the 16th and 17th centuries with gothic and baroque styles, while the North wing was finished in the 18th century. The monastery belonged to the order of the Augustinians, guarded the image of the Virgin of Aguas Vivas, patron saint of the city of Carcaixent.
In the middle of the 19th century as a result of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal, the monks had to leave the convent, which became the property of the barons of Casanova, aiming at rural housing. In 1977 the monastery was acquired and refurbished to destine it to hotel residence by Antonio Vidal Bellver (photographer and entrepreneur of Carcaixent). Today is owned by a known businessman of Gandia.
References:The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.