Convento de Carmelitas Descalzos, Discalced Carmelite friars' convent in Burgos, Spain

The Convento de Carmelitas Descalzos is a Discalced Carmelite friary in Burgos, between the Arlanzón River and the Bulevar at Paseo del Empecinado and Calle del Carmen. The present complex replaced the original 17th-century convent, of which nothing remains. Its modern church, opened in 1968, was built in concrete, brick and slate by architects Felipe Abajo and Pedro Gutiérrez, with a stepped pyramidal exterior and a tall, bright interior.

The first convent was built in the early 17th century on land promoted by the family of Catalina de Tolosa, a Biscayan lady and friend of Teresa of Jesus who had helped found the female convent of San José y Santa Ana in Burgos in 1582. Her will of 1596 provided for a house of Discalced Carmelite friars; works ran until 1611, when a small community installed in the city since 1606 took possession. Pedro de las Suertes took part in the project and Teresa de Melgosa paid for most of the work. Enlarged in the 18th century, it was sacked in 1808, suppressed in 1835 and restored in 1877 by prior general José María de la Soledad Zárrabe.

The convent keeps the Biblioteca Provincial and the Archivo Silveriano, which holds hundreds of Carmelite manuscripts, files and incunabula from the 16th and 17th centuries. Since 1879 the house has served as the Order's Colegio Mayor of Philosophy and Theology, a teaching role it still fulfils.

The convent stands between the Arlanzón river and the Bulevar, at the junction of Paseo del Empecinado and Calle del Carmen. The 1968 church, of concrete, brick and slate, is entered beside the older monastic block; its stepped pyramidal outline is the easiest landmark to look for when approaching on foot.

The convent holds the Archivo Silveriano, a collection of hundreds of Carmelite manuscripts, files and incunabula from the 16th and 17th centuries, together with the Provincial Library. Its name honours the Silverio tradition of Carmelite scholarship rather than any family chapel.