Santa Teresa Convent

The Santa Teresa Convent (Barefoot Carmelite Nuns) is on the so-called Carrera de Jesús–Jesus' Run–in the city of Jaén. It was founded in 1615 by Francisco Palomino Ulloa and his wife, Juana de Quesada, who donated Alonso de Guzmán's house for it, to which they later added their own.

It is highly likely that one of these two houses was the palace of Esteban Gabriel Merino, who was a cardinal in the Holy See, in the first half of the 16th century, as his coat of arms is over the inside door to the refectory, in a space that, according to the Catalogue of monuments in the city of Jaén, was possibly a window previously.

With the disappearance of the convent of the same Order in Beas de Segura (founded by Teresa of Ávila), many of its works of art ended up at this convent in the city, such as the bell that led Saint Teresa to that mountain village and a manuscript by Saint John of the Cross: “Spiritual Canticle”.

The current church dates from the 17th century, and is the work of Eufrasio López de Rojas, who paid for it because he had two daughters who were nuns at this convent. It is a temple in austere, Carmelite style. Outside, it has a doorway with complex geometrical work, with mouldings and panels.

The nuns sell delicious cakes, including some fairy cakes fit for the best palates.