Around 1510, taking advantage of the economic prosperity of the town due to its mining richness and its proximity to Seville, a city that at that time was experiencing a period of economic expansion, four convents of religious communities were founded in Huelva:
The first foundation was for nuns with the title of Santa María de Gracia, Agustinas Calzadas, originally daughters of the San Leandro Convent in Seville.
The second convent established in this town with an exact date of foundation in 1582 was the one of Mínimos de San Francisco de Paula, called Nuestra Señora de la Victoria, created under the protection of its religious vocation, the devotion of the neighbours and the support of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia.
The third was the Franciscan of the Observance monks convent, founded in 1588 under the auspices of the town council.
And finally, the fourth was the Mercedarios Descalzos Convent, from 1650, under the protection of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia.
The only convent of these four that is still open today is that of the Reverend Augustinian Nuns, which, located on one side of the central Plaza de las Monjas, sits on what was once an Arab necropolis.
The original construction of the convent followed the architectural taste of the time in Mudejar Gothic with a basic building material of brick with wood and plaster.
Santa María de Gracia Convent (1510-1700) is located on the side of the centrally located Plaza de las Monjas, where there was once an Arab necropolis.
Santa María de Gracia Convent (1510-1700) is located on the side of the centrally located Plaza de las Monjas, where there was once an Arab necropolis.
On 25 March 1510 the congregation of nuns whose aims were the glory of God in silence, prayer and sacrifice began their cloistered life under the protection of Doña Elvira de Guzmán y Maldonado, Countess of Niebla.
The original construction of the convent followed the architectural taste of the time in Mudejar Gothic and the building materials used were brick, wood and plaster, with few remains of the original design having undergone subsequent remodelling. The convent preserves important remains from this Mudejar period. The oldest elements are the Mudejar cloister, but perhaps the most outstanding feature is the entrance courtyard supported by Tuscan marble columns of Genoese marble supporting semicircular arches in exposed brick.
The church took on its present-day appearance in 1618 with the creation of the high altar chapel. In 1951 the building was restored by Luís Saavedra and Ricardo Anadón, within the new layout of the Plaza de las Monjas, creating the current dome. In 2003 it was restored by Carlos Barranco and the façade was restored in accordance with Pérez Carasa’s project.
The church has a single nave with altarpieces attached to the two enclosing walls. The roof of the nave is of pair and node, polychrome, and the passage between the nave and the presbytery is through a triumphal arch in exposed brick with a semicircular arch. The light entry system is resolved with arrow slits or mullioned windows on the left side with little light spillage, while on the right side of the nave, the light penetrates through two arrow slits sprouted by columns that support horseshoe arches. The alfiz and spandrels are covered with Sevillian-style tiles.
In the standing area, there is a colonnaded atrium with semicircular arches made of exposed brick, with two pairs of arches in the central area and two more on the sides.
In the chancel area, the apse is flat and covered with a hemispherical dome supported by pendentives. The chancel is decorated with a neo-Renaissance altarpiece with an Ionic order in the lower section and a Corinthian order in the upper section. It is a mixed altarpiece with both sculptural and pictorial decoration.
Santa María de Gracia Convent, also known as the Augustinian Nuns Convent, is located in the Plaza de las Monjas.
For the timetable of masses and visits to the church visit the website agustinashuelva.es
