Monastery of San Juan de la Penitencia

The building was initially constructed as the convent school for the Discalced Augustinians of San Nicolás de Tolentino. Following the exclaustration, the property was transferred to private ownership, becoming a work house. In the mid-nineteenth century, the spire and lantern of the church were demolished, and a viewpoint was constructed on the drum of the half orange. In the orchard, Don José Arpa constructed a bullring with wooden stands and boxes, which was inaugurated in 1840. This was the first stable and closed bullring in Alcalá.

Doña Modesta Martínez purchased the building and decided to give it to the community of Franciscan nuns of San Juan de la Penitencia, founded by Cardinal Cisneros in 1508. Faced with the ruin of their original convent, the community decided in 1884 to move to this former Augustinian college.

The church is from the 17th century and follows the aforementioned model of the Complutense Baroque, with a façade that is slightly recessed to facilitate contemplation. In the niche is an image of Nuesta Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), from the front of the convent school of the Dominicanos de la Madre de Dios (Dominicans of the Mother of God), located at the beginning of the same street. Behind the arches, in the atrium, there are two sculptures of San Diego de Alcalá and San Francisco de Borja and another of Santa María de Jesús, all three from the façade of the Franciscan convent that disappeared in the Plaza de San Diego (San Diego Square).

Next to the church, there is a small door that leads to the cloister, in the vestibule of which we can see the coat of arms of Cisneros in polychrome wood. When the dome of the church was rebuilt, a chapel with an elliptical vault was turned into a museum where some of the founder’s personal belongings are exhibited, including a pectoral cross reliquary and a copy of his last will and testament. Among the paintings, there is a panel with the portrait of Cisneros in bas-relief, from the XVI century, and an excellent “Inmaculada”, from the XVII century, by Francisco Antolínez. The crozier of the Nasrid Kings of Granada deserves special attention. One and a half meters high, it is made of ebony with bone and cedar inlays and can be dated to the second half of the 14th century, or the beginning of the 15th century at the latest. The beautiful hilt is carved with vegetal decorations and the famous motto of the Nasrid kings: “And there is no victor but God”.

Individual Guided Tour: Every second Saturday of the month (Except Easter and Holy Week and Holy Days of Obligation).
Time of visit: 11:45h Fee: 3,00€
Group Guided Tour: Every day except Sundays, Easter and Holy Week and Holy Days of Obligation. Reservation required.
Telephone: 695 28 61 23
e-mail: gvisitas.sanjuandelapenitencia@gmail.com

Text in Spaish: Vicente Sanchez Moltó. Alcalá World Heritage Guide