La Merced Convent

In Plaza de la Merced square in Jaen stands a beautiful Renaissance site encompassing the Palace of Los Quesada-Ulloa, Fuente Nueva fountain and the old La Merced Convent. This space arose from the creation of the convent (1580), being occupied by Mercedarian fathers until the 19th century, when the Confiscation forced them to leave. In 1885, a new community of fathers of the Heart of Mary, the Claretians, arrived here.

Of the original La Merced Convent, there remains a small courtyard and a cloister dating to 1585, small and with a simple structure, and its church, which has been a parish church since the 18th century.

The main façade, built in stone, is decorated with a niche housing a statue of its patron saint, Nuestra Señora de la Merced, from the late Baroque period. The spire, on the north-east corner of the façade, was built in brick in 1878. During the Civil War, the church suffered considerable damage and had to undergo major refurbishment in 1954.