Monasterio de Santa Catalina (7)


Source: WTL digitized analogue photo© taken in the Monasterio/Convento de Santa Catalina.
Comments: The convent's founder was María de Guzmán, a rich widow. According to Spanish tradition, a family's second child would enter a religious order (priest or nun). This convent generally accepted only women from rich families. Each nun kept up to four servants or slaves. The lifestyle in the convent could be lavish: music, parties, plays, banquets, etc. Each family paid a dowry when the daughter entered the convent. Poor families could place a daughter here, but most were rich. Often they decorated their cells with statues, paintings, lamps, curtains, rugs, books, and musical instruments.