About this place
Behind an austere brick-and-stone facade, just steps from the Puerta del Sol, the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales hides one of the most astonishing interiors in Madrid. It was founded in 1559 by Joanna of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Charles the Fifth and sister of King Philip the Second, as a convent for barefoot, or descalzas, Poor Clare nuns. But this was no ordinary religious house. It became a refuge for royal and aristocratic women, widowed queens and princesses who entered with enormous dowries of art and treasure. The result is a convent of staggering wealth: a monumental frescoed staircase, a series of tapestries woven from designs by Rubens, paintings by Titian and Brueghel, and chapels heavy with gold. Still home to a small community of cloistered nuns, it can be visited on guided tours that feel like stepping into a secret world.
Key facts
- 1559 year — Joanna of Austria founded the convent in a former royal palace where she had been born
- 33 nuns — The traditional maximum number of cloistered nuns living in the convent
- 10 tapestries — Woven from designs by Rubens hang in the convent's tapestry gallery
📍 Plaza de las Descalzas 3, 28013, Madrid