The Convent in Gibraltar, a defining landmark on Main Street, has a rich history. Originally a home to the Franciscan friars, they were granted a plot of land in the area known at the time as La Turba where the poorer people of Gibraltar lived. A church and a friary were built in 1531. After the capture of Gibraltar by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in the name of the Archduke Charles, the Franciscan friars did not follow the exodus of the Spanish population and remained in Gibraltar, at least for some years; their presence was recorded in 1712.
The Franciscan friary was later taken over as the residence of the British governors in 1728 and has remained so ever since. The building was heavily rebuilt during the 18th and 19th centuries in the Georgian style with Victorian elements.
Today, The Convent Dining Room houses the most extensive heraldry display in the entire Commonwealth of Nations. However, the building is infamous for being haunted by the ghost of a nun, known as the 'Lady in Grey'. The popular version of the story says she was the daughter of an affluent Spanish family who was forced to take vows at the Convent of Santa Clara. After her lover joined the Franciscan Order and they hatched plans to escape, the alarm was raised. The lover drowned in the harbour while the bride was arrested for breaking her vows and, as punishment, was walled up alive in one of the rooms in the Convent.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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