Spain Guide
Castilla y León and La Rioja
Convento de Santa Clara
Address: Just north of c/San Pablo
Opening time: Mon– Fri 9.30am–2pm & 4–7pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am–3pm
Price: €2, guided tours only
The thirteenth-century Convento de Santa Clara was found to be concealing unsuspected treasure when the whitewash was taken off the chapel walls in 1976. Underneath was an important series of frescoes from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, while Romanesque and Gothic columns and a stunning sixteenth-century polychrome ceiling were also uncovered in the cloister. But the most incredible discovery was made in the church, where the Baroque ceiling constructed by Joaquín Churriguera was found to be false; rising above this, you can see the original fourteenth-century beams, decorated with heraldic motifs of the kingdoms of Castile and León.