A Renaissance palace full of religious treasures is hidden in the Plaza de las Descalzas. Here was born the princess Juana of Austria, who in her maturity, widow of Juan Manuel of Portugal, converted the distinguished building into a monastery of Poor Clare nuns and installed in it her quarters.
A divine nursery in the center of Madrid
Upon entering the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales, the novices were required to bring an image of the Child God and a crucifix as a dowry. It was part of a tradition of the time that symbolized the union of the nuns with Christ. Each surviving piece of the ritual is unique: there are those with traditional clothing and emblematic figures such as Saint Isidore (patron saint of Madrid) or King Philip II, brother of Juana of Austria. Over the years, the nuns opened a room to store the collection of figures, baptized Divina Guardería.
Today, the Divine Nursery is a secret room that opens to the public at Christmas. Until January 5 we can, in addition to visiting a living testimony of the devotion that the Poor Clare nuns have maintained over the centuries, discover the showcases where their precious figures of the newborn Christ are kept.
More treasures of the monastery
The Monastery of the Descalzas Reales, as austere on the outside as it is richly decorated on the inside, was home to relics of the early Church – the remains of saints and martyrs worshipped in the 16th century – and of beatified figures from the time of Sister Margarita de la Cruz, Juana’s devoted niece. These relics were kept in chests and jewelry boxes made of fine gold work: the nuns’ precious reliquaries.
The collection of relics and reliquaries grew to more than 400 pieces, making it one of the most outstanding of its kind in Europe. This alone makes it worthwhile to enter the ancient palace, which has many other charms: monumental tapestries designed by Rubens, paintings by El Greco and exotic objects of the highest quality.