CONVENT OF THE POOR CLARES

On the slope of the so-called Alto de San Cristóbal, east of Salamanca's old town, stands the Royal Convent of Santa Clara. Its origins date back to around 1220, when several groups of women —primarily wives and daughters of nobles and knights involved in military campaigns— began to gather in beaterios (communities of pious women) and hermitages in search of support and protection. One of these groups, led by Doña Urraca, widow of Fernando II of León, settled in the beaterio of the hermitage of Santa María.

The construction of the monastery must have begun around 1230, and its church was completed between 1245 and 1250. That same year, the community adopted the name "freylas de Santa María," associating themselves with the Order of Saint Damian founded by Saint Clare of Assisi and beginning to observe the Franciscan rule. In the late 13th century, King Sancho granted them the title of "Royal Monastery of Santa Clara."

Throughout its history, the building underwent numerous transformations. In 1413, a serious fire destroyed part of the convent, leading to its reconstruction during the 15th and early 16th centuries. From this period date the Gothic portal of the church, located on Santa Clara street, framed by an alfiz and crowned by the niche with the stone sculpture of Saint Clare, as well as several pointed windows located in the upper choir.

Between the mid-17th century and the second half of the 18th century, important expansion and restructuring works were carried out: three of the cloister galleries were built, the church, sacristy, and choir rooms were restored, and the tower-viewpoint was erected. Subsequently, following the project of Andrés García de Quiñones, the main façade of the monastery was built, and the so-called "new work" was undertaken, which reorganized the western part of the building and opened an exit to San Román square. During this period, the false brick vault, plastered with gypsum, which covered the lower choir room for more than two centuries, was also constructed.

During the Peninsular War, the nuns were forced to abandon the convent, which was occupied by French troops. The high taxes resulting from the conflict and, subsequently, the Mendizábal Disentailment, ruined the monastery's heritage, which then went through its most difficult period. Even so, the community managed to survive until recent times. In 2019, due to a lack of vocations and the advanced age of the last nuns, they were transferred to other convents of the order.

In the early seventies, various works promoted by the community of nuns brought to light several exceptional discoveries. In 1973, during the repair of the roof, the original roofs of the church were discovered, hidden since the 18th century under the false vault built by Joaquín de Churriguera. Shortly after, a remarkable set of mural paintings covering the walls of the lower choir appeared, dated between the 13th and 18th centuries, which had remained covered by layers of whitewash for centuries.

The subsequent restoration of the coffered ceiling and the paintings received the Europa Nostra Award for Heritage Conservation. In 1989, these spaces were opened to the public as a museum, still coexisting with convent life. After the departure of the nuns in 2019, the complex became the Museum of Medieval Painting of Santa Clara.

The convent tour begins in the lower choir, a rectangular room located at the foot of the church and connected to it by a door in the separating wall. In the early 1970s, during masonry work, an impressive collection of mural paintings covering its walls came to light, having remained hidden for centuries under successive layers of lime.

The remodelling of the choir in the 16th century led to the partial destruction of the original paintings. At that time, segmental arch bands were built, supported by pillars that divided the room into six sections and cut off part of the scenes painted on the walls. The spandrels of these arches are decorated with twenty magnificent medallions representing saints, martyrs, and clerics, considered among the highest artistic quality in the city.

Today, it is possible to admire a splendid pictorial ensemble that, both for its dimensions —around 140 m²— and the broad period it covers, constitutes a magnificent collection of primarily Gothic painting. The works are executed in fresco and tempera, and to a lesser extent in oil, and depict various religious scenes: Franciscan saints such as Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Clare; Church Fathers; martyrdoms of saints —such as those of Saint Peter, Saint Damian, or Saint Bartholomew—; as well as passages from the Old and New Testaments, including the Sacrifice of Isaac, Jesus blessing Mary Magdalene, or the doubt of Saint Thomas. Saints such as Saint Dominic de Guzmán, Saint Ursula with the Ten Thousand Virgins, or Saint Christopher, who were very popular and widely represented in the Middle Ages, are also depicted.

NORTHERN CLOISTER GALLERY It is the oldest gallery of the cloister. It is supported by six columns with Romanesque capitals decorated with vegetal motifs, very crude human faces, and concentric circles. It has been suggested that it may have been part of the portico of the primitive hermitage of Santa María, the origin of the current convent. The gallery is covered by a beautiful 16th-century polychrome wooden ceiling. The floor slabs, for their part, recall that the old convent cemetery was located in this space.

Today, the gallery functions as a small museum, with niches and altars adorned with delicate Talavera tiles. Among the exhibited pieces are a 15th-century wooden Crucified Christ, in a Gothic-Byzantine style; a triptych dedicated to Saint John the Baptist; and a Plateresque arcosolium housing a Renaissance painting depicting Saint Anne, the Virgin and Child, and Saint Paul.

The most recent interventions allowed the recovery of several mural paintings that had remained hidden under layers of lime. Among them are a representation of the Miracle of the Palm Tree during the Flight into Egypt and another dedicated to Mary Magdalene.

The other three cloister galleries were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Until a few years ago, the two oldest holm oaks in the city were preserved in this courtyard. The oldest, almost 1,200 years old, had to be felled in 2014. The other, still standing, dates back to the 13th century, coinciding with the origins of the convent.

THE CHURCH The church of the Las Claras convent consists of a single nave with a rectangular plan. Externally, it still preserves vestiges of the old Gothic construction. The door, with a pointed stone arch, is framed by a simple alfiz. Above it, a niche houses the image of Saint Clare.

The interior underwent a profound transformation in the early 18th century. Under the original wooden ceiling, a false barrel vault with lunettes was created, built of brick covered with plasterwork featuring extensive Baroque decoration.

The church has seven Baroque altarpieces, whose golden glow seems to illuminate the temple upon entering. The main altarpiece was commissioned in 1701 from Joaquín de Churriguera and Pedro de Gamboa. Although smaller in size, this altarpiece is closely related to the one his brother José created for the church of San Esteban. Carved in gilded wood with gold leaf, it consists of a predella, a central body, and an attic, crowned by a finial decorated with a cherub. The central body of the altarpiece is divided into three sections delimited by Solomonic columns decorated with bunches of grapes and vine leaves that almost completely cover its surface. In the central niche is the image of Saint Clare of Assisi with the monstrance, while in the attic is the figure of the Immaculate Conception. The niches in the side sections house sculptures of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua.

The side altars, in the same style as the main one, though smaller in size, are dedicated to Saint Bonaventure, the Calvary, Saint Catherine of Bologna, Saint John the Baptist, and Our Lady of the Rosary.

THE UPPER CHOIR In the upper choir, numerous works from the convent itself are exhibited alongside others from convents such as the Ursulines of Salamanca or the Saint Clare convent of Ciudad Rodrigo.

THE ORIGINAL CEILINGS When Joaquín Churriguera built the false brick vault covering the church in the early 18th century, he respected the primitive coffered ceilings. The discovery of these magnificent ceilings took place in 1973, during repair work on the church roof. These coffered ceilings were very deteriorated, so a complete restoration was carried out, consolidating their structure, protecting the wood, and cleaning and preserving their polychromy.

Thanks to an ingenious and unprecedented system of walkways and metal bridges installed during the 1988 restoration, we can closely admire its different coffered ceilings. The ceiling is composed of three parts belonging to different eras, making its study of great interest for understanding the stylistic evolution of ornamental timberwork ('carpintería de lo blanco'):

The primitive coffered ceiling, built with a collar beam truss system ('par y nudillo'), constitutes the largest part of the roof. The eaves beam ('arrocabe') of this structure and its corner braces ('cuadrales') are profusely decorated with a great variety of emblems and coats of arms, forming the most extensive and complete collection preserved in the city. Alongside them, vegetal motifs, geometric shapes, or fantastic animals, such as dragons and harpies, were painted.

Initially, it was thought that these coats of arms belonged to noble Salamancan families who had been benefactors of the convent. Recent investigations interpret the approximately 150 coats of arms represented on it as a chronicle of the history of the union of the Kingdoms of Castile and León, under the leadership of Queen Berengaria of Castile. According to this study, the historical events reflected through heraldry on the ceiling of Las Claras narrate historical episodes that occurred between the years 1204 and 1242.

Berengaria herself would have conceived this chronicle, in which, in addition to the emblems evoking her maternal ancestors —the Plantagenets and the Dukes of Aquitaine—, decisive episodes of her life and the history of the two kingdoms would be represented. These would include the proclamation of her firstborn son, Ferdinand III the Saint, as King of Castile; as well as the death of Alfonso IX and the subsequent succession conflicts for the Leonese throne among his descendants. The narrative would culminate with the marriage engagement of her grandson, the future Alfonso X the Wise, to Violante, Infanta of Aragon.

The ceiling area corresponding to the apse dates from the late 15th or early 16th century, when an attempt was made to replace the primitive coffered ceiling, work that was not completed due to calculation errors that caused its displacement towards the north wall, threatening the collapse of the structure. It is a beautiful ornate ceiling with interlacing patterns ('lacería').

THE VIEWPOINT : From the upper choir, one accesses the tower, built between 1727 and 1728. From here, an exceptional view of the Teso de las Catedrales unfolds before us. In this imposing setting, the silhouettes of the New Cathedral and the Royal College of the Holy Spirit stand out, dominating the horizon and forming an architectural ensemble of breathtaking beauty.