St. Teresa Convent

The St. Teresa Convent is located on the streets of Via de la Dama, allowing access to the square where the convent of La Santa is located. This monastic foundation was assembled over what used to be the house where Teresa de Jesús was born, a top writer on Spanish Golden Century literature and Christian mysticism. Teresa was a judeoconverso, a jew that converted to catholicism, because she is closely related to a family of new Christians in Toledo. The Convent of St. Teresa was built between 1629 and 1636, with a magnificent example of the Carmelite style. Underground, there is a Santa Teresa Museum that contains pieces which are still relatively unknown to the general public and are extremely valuable. On the other side of the Santa gate, the Mysticism Interpretation Centre is organised into four rooms, each corresponing to the three universal elements established by Saint Catherine of Siena: being by yourself, being with God, and being with the world, as well as a fourth being identified with tradition. The Hebrew origin of Saint Teresa of Jesus or of Saint John of the Cross, both suffering with some problems when they started to practice their faith, shows how conversion was actually an option accepted by part of the Jewish community.