The Monastery of Santa Clara in Moguer is one of the most important examples of the mudejar architecture in occidental Andalusia. It was founded in 1337 by Sir Alonso Jofre Tenorio, an Admiral from Castile and his wife Lady Elvira Álvarez. It was a donation from Alfonso XI in 1333. It was for Franciscan- Clarisa Nuns.
The monastery was built in a place next to the villa called “Santa Clara Country”, which was integrated in the urban area thanks to the new urban tendency from the end of the 15th century and the growth of demographic population. During centuries, it had influence on the social, economic, cultural and religious life of the region.
Their patrons, “Los Portocarrero”, were connected to it; in fact, some feminine members of this family became members of the monacal community and the conventual church was a family Pantheon.
The fame and prestige achieved by the monastery made it a point of reference between the 14th and 17th centuries which was a period of expansion for other monasteries of the same religious order in Andalusia. Sister Inés Enriquez with other two sisters left the monastery in Moguer to join Maria Coronel in the foundation of the Monastery of Santa Inés in Seville in 1374. She also helped in the reforms of the Santa Clara Monastery in Cordoba with Sister Catalina de Figueroa, Sister Isabel Pacheco and Sister María de Toledo, a daughter of the Counts of La Puebla, and they also reformed the monastery of Santa Clara in Jaén.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.