The Convento de Santa Catalina de Siena and the body of La Siervita

Founded in 1606 by Juan de Cabrejas and María de Salas, the Convento de Santa Catalina de Siena was inaugurated on April 23, 1611. Four religious women from Seville entered the convent on that day, and in later years, it housed up to a hundred nuns. Although it was a wealthy institution, the Desamortización de Mendizábal made serious havoc on its heritage, which was one of the most important in the islands.

The building features Mudéjar influences, including miradores-ajimeces of carved wood, a roof covered with Arabic tiles on the exterior, and a beautiful artesonado on the interior. The church facade is topped with a espadaña and features a single nave with high and low choirs. Inside, a large altarpiece executed and gilded between 1665 and 1667 by Antonio de Orbarán and Antonio Álvarez presides over the image of the Virgen del Rosario. Nearby stands an imposing silver repoussé sagrario, while the lateral retablos include works of the Virgen del Tránsito and the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús.

The most famous inhabitant of the convent is María de Jesús de León y Delgado, affectionately called La Siervita by the faithful. Her incorrupt body is preserved in a sarcophagus-retable donated by Captain Amaro Rodríguez Felipe in the lower choir. A painting showing one of the visions of Christ that Santa Teresa de Jesús had is placed above the sarcophagus. The body can only be seen on February 15th and the following Sunday, drawing thousands of pilgrims each year. The monastery also houses the Museo de la Siervita, which contains personal objects like a stone pillow and remnants of her burial shroud.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons