Antequera’s Convento de Belén (and other nearby highlights)

Antequera has so many incredible churches. I’ve covered a few previously: the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, Iglesia del Carmen, Iglesia de San Juan de Dios…

The church in the Convento de Belén has to be included in the Top 5 of spectacular churches in Antequera. Besides being beautiful, it’s a place where you can buy cookies and sweets from the Poor Clare nuns* who occupy the convent. The Convento de Belén is also located next to a few other highlights you shouldn’t miss when in Antequera. I’ll cover those below.

*The Order of Saint Clare was founded in Assisi (Italy) in the 1200’s. A branch of the Franciscan order, today there are over 20,000 Poor Clare nuns in over 75 countries around the world.

The Convento de Belén was built starting in 1628 (the same year as the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios) and it belonged to the Discalced Carmelites until 1859.

The Discalced Carmelites were founded by Teresa of Ávila in 1562 (I’ve mentioned Teresa of Ávila previously on my post on Ávila). The Discalced Carmelites were strict, their whole lives were devoted servitude, fasting, poverty and prayer.

The church is beautiful, extravagantly decorated in baroque style with blue-hued plasterwork and rich in goldleaf sculptures and huge canvases dating from the 17^th century.

Tips on Visiting

Free entrance, open Monday to Sunday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Bring some coins – there’s a box in the church to get the lights on. Put a Euro coin in and the whole church lights up for about 10 minutes.

There are some highlights around the convent worth visiting.

Iglesia de Santiago

A very pretty little church with a fountain outside (located on Plaza Santiago). There was a hermitage located here dating back to 1519. But the current church dates from the mid-1700’s. It’s a simple church dedicated to the Virgin of Health.

Convento de Santa Eufemia

Right across the street from Iglesia de Santiago. All the highlights here – the church, convent and fountain – give this corner of the city an illusion of stepping back in time.

We’ve never been inside Santa Eufemia, they have unusual hours: Wednesday and Friday, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sunday, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Mirador Puerta de Granada

A few minutes down the street is one of the 4 old city gates. This one is the Puerta de Granada (which was restored in 1942).

But the highlight here is the park (Jardines del Rey Juan Carlos I) and the mirador (Mirador Puerta de Granada).

It’s one of the best views of the city, the views here being very different to that from the city’s other viewpoints. I have an upcoming post on the best miradors of Antequera and this is definitely one of them.