Convento de Belén

The convent previously belonged to the order of the Barefoot Carmelites until the 19th century, when it was taken over by the Poor Clares. They still live there as cloistered nuns and devote their time to artisan crafts such as making mantecados and sweets in general.

Work on the church was already under way in 1628. It has a plain façade worked in a combination of stone and brick. The floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, with interconnecting side chapels and a raised vault in the transept. Of particular interest is the profuse decoration of Baroque plasterwork on a blue background, among the oldest in Antequera.

The decoration in the main church is also distinctive; there are four religious images worth noting and an enormous canvas dating from the mid-17th century (the Adoration of the Shepherds), attributed by some authors to Murillo, but which is in fact by Fray Domingo, a monk of the Descalzos or barefoot order, of whom nothing more is known.