Santa Paula Convent

Seville has many enclosed religious complexes, but few are accessible. This is one of them, a convent set up in 1475 and still home to 40 nuns. The public is welcome to enter through two different doors in the Calle Santa Paula. Knock on the brown one, marked number 11 to look at the convent museum. Steps lead to two galleries, crammed with religious paintings and artifacts. The windows of the second look onto the nuns' cloister. The nuns make a phenomenal range of marmalades and jams which visitors may purchase in a room near the exit.

Ring the bell by the brick doorway nearby to visit the convent church, reached by crossing a meditative garden. Its portal vividly combines Gothic arches, Mudejar brickwork, Renaissance medallion and ceramics by the Italian artist, Niculoso Pisano. Inside the nave has an elaborate wooden roof and there are some fine statues here of St John the Evangelist and St John the Baptist.

Address
Calle Enladrillada 32, Seville, Spain

Established
1475