Convento de Santa Clara, 15th century convent in Carmona, Spain
The Convento de Santa Clara is a 15th-century monastic building featuring a rectangular nave with wooden roof and a Gothic ribbed vault in the choir section. The spaces display a mixture from different periods, with Renaissance tilework showing Arab patterns and Baroque elements later added to the walls.
The convent was established in 1460 when Pope Pius II issued a papal document authorizing two local noble women, Teresa and Beatriz de Salcedo, to build this site. Over the following centuries, it developed into an important religious and social center for the town.
The nuns in the convent run their bakery using recipes that blend Arab and Christian influences passed down through generations. This daily craft tradition shows how people from different backgrounds have lived together in this city across the centuries.
The convent allows visitors to purchase baked goods handmade by the Clarisse nuns who operate their bakery inside the building itself. The best time to visit is in the morning, when the bakery is open and the selection is widest.
The convent holds a special baked goods sale in its cloister every December 6th, offering cakes of different kinds made throughout the year. Many of these recipes come from generations of bakers and involve old techniques from the period when the town was under Arab rule.
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