Marvel at the splendor of its elegant colonial buildings, streets and flavors that live up to its nickname "City Of the Angels".
A legend is responsible for this beautiful city being known as Puebla de los Angeles.
The Museum of Religious Art Ex-Convent of Santa Monica Puebla is one of the greatest exponents of female monastic life in the country and unique in the State of Puebla.
It has works signed by important authors of the time and has a collection of sacred art ranging from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, consisting mostly of four collections of former female convents of the city of Puebla: Santa Catalina (Dominicans), San Joaquin and Santa Ana (Capuchins), La Soledad (Discalced Carmelites) and Santa Monica (Augustinian Recollects).
The former Convent of Santa Monica is a seventeenth-century building modified in later centuries, dominated by the Puebla Baroque style, which can be seen especially in the facades of the Patio de Profesas, covered with Talavera tile and petatillo (bricks at an angle, like petate seams). However, the main façade on 18 Poniente Street is of neoclassical style.
The museum reconstructs the life of the nuns through 23 permanent exhibition rooms and two courtyards, the Professed and the Novices.
In 1935 it became the first Museum of Religious Art in Mexico. In the Museum of Religious Art Ex Convento de Santa MónicaThere is a great variety of recipes such as the typical dish of Puebla: chiles en nogada, which is said to have been created in the ex-convent by the Augustinian nuns.
It is said that the nuns and women who inhabited this religious space suffered abuse, rape, confinement and inhumane punishments in order to inflict suffering related to the love of God or simply for not following religious norms.
Despite the beauty and history that the former convent of Santa Monica represents, the stories hidden within its walls are quite dark.
The legend goes back to the year 1609, it is said that a woman by the name of Ursula Vega, opened a house of confinement for women as a way to reform their behavior.
However, it also sheltered the order of the nuns of Santa Monica and it was Dr. Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz who reformed this place in 1679 to provide them with an equal space, including spaces such as oratories, a new church and even cells.
This place was closed down by the government due to allegations of irregularities. It is said that the nuns and women who inhabited this religious space suffered abuse, rape, confinement and inhumane punishments in order to inflict suffering related to the love of God or simply for not following religious norms.
In some areas of the former convent, skeletons of fetuses and even the skeleton of a woman who may have shown signs of pregnancy have been found.
Workers and visitors have reported the appearance of a woman dressed in white in the dark and gloomy corridors of this facility.
There are 23 rooms and the following rooms and their respective themes stand out:
Placeres (Sala de Sitio), Kitchen and Pantry, Refectory, Library, Life of St. Augustine, Reliquaries, Allegories and Patronages, Prioress's Office and Marian Room.
Dirección: Av 18 Pte 103, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
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More Official Info: Visit Puebla
Marvel at the splendor of its elegant colonial buildings, streets and flavors that live up to its nickname "City Of the Angels".
A legend is responsible for this beautiful city being known as Puebla de los Angeles.
The country is a land of contrasts. It has it all: a rich history and culture, a warm and pleasant climate, a varied geography, an impressive nature, a tasteful gastronomy and a friendly and helpful population ... in short: Mexico can fulfill all your wishes!