The Convent of Santa Clara is 15th-century,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convent belonging to cloistered order of the

Colettine Poor Clares The Colettine Poor Clares are a reform branch of the Order of St. Clare, founded by Clare of Assisi in Italy in 1211. They follow the interpretation of the Rule of St. Clare established by Saint Colette in 1410, originally a French hermit and member ...

, and located in the town of

Gandia Gandia ( es, Gandía) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar (or ''Costa dels Tarongers''), south of Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can acce ...

, province of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is located in the centre of Gandia and at few meters from the

Collegiate Basilica of Gandia The Collegiate Basilica of Santa Maria of Gandia, also known as "La Seu", is the principal church of the city of Gandia, (Valencia). Construction commenced in the 14th century. The Collegiate Church of Santa María is a Valencian Gothic constructi ...

, in María Enríquez de Luna square.

History

The Convent of Santa Clara was founded in 1431 by Violante of Aragon, daughter of

Alfonso of Aragon and Foix Alfonso de Aragón y Foix (1332 - Gandia, 5 March 1412) Iglesias Costa, Manuel (2001) ''Historia del condado de Ribagorza'' . p. 267. Huesca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses: Diputación de Huesca. . also called Alfonso I of Gandía "the old" ...

, Royal

Duke of Gandía Duke of Gandía ( ca-valencia, Ducat de Gandia, ) is a title of Spanish nobility that was first created in 1399 by Martin of Aragon and granted to Alfonso of Aragon and Foix. It has its origin in the Manorialism, lordship of Gandía created in 13 ...

. It is a clear demonstration of the historical and artistic significance of the city. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style church houses an altarpiece by

Paolo da San Leocadio Pablo da San Leocadio or Paolo da Reggio (10 September 1447 – c. 1520) was an Italian painter from Reggio Emilia, who was mostly active in Spain. Biography In the 1450s or 1460 he moved to Ferrara, where he was influenced by local painters ...

. There were many women of the

Borgia family The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...

who spent his life in this convent. After the death of its founder, Violante of Aragon, spend a few years in which the convent is practically uninhabited. Later, the

valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...

noble

Luis Vich y de Corbera Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

will be who decided to restore this convent. The convent was the new home for ten nuns from the same community who abandoned her

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

convent of the city of

Lézignan-Corbières Lézignan-Corbières (; ) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Situated in the Corbières wine region not far from Narbonne, it has a Vine and Wine Museum (''Musée de la Vigne et du Vin''). Geograph ...

. Among these nuns was also María Escarlata, the sister of the French Prince. She took refuge in the convent of Gandia fleeing of being married by force. María Enríquez de Luna, Duchess of Gandia entered the convent with the name of Sister Gabriela. She became Abbess of the convent in 1530, and died nine years later. Later, would be his daughter, Sister Francisca de Jesús which was chosen

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

of the convent in 1533, and ruled it until in 1548, he resigned to foundations away from their family environment. He had the satisfaction of seeing religious of his convent of Gandia to his own mother, Sister María Gabriela and five nieces, daughters of his brother

Juan de Borja y Enríquez de Luna ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, sisters of

Saint Francis Borgia Francis Borgia ( ca-valencia, Francesc de Borja; es, Francisco de Borja; 28 October 1510 – 30 September 1572) was a Spanish Jesuit priest. The great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, he was Duke of Gandía and a grandee of Spain. After t ...

. In the courtyard of the convent is an olive tree which according to tradition was planted by

. The convent has the image of the ''Virgin of Baluarte'', the Virgin of the Bastion.

Art collection

The convent preserves an outstanding art collection bequeathed by the Borgias including the works of

José de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to ...

Juan de Juanes Vicente Juan Masip (also known as Joan de Joanes) (15071579) was a Spanish painter of the Renaissance period. He is commonly considered the foremost member of the Valencian school of painters. Masip was born in La Font de la Figuera. His fathe ...

Francisco Salzillo Francisco Salzillo y Alcaraz (12 May 1707 – 2 March 1783Malgares Guerrero, José Antonio. XXII Jornadas de Patrimonio Cultural de la Región de Murcia (Spanish). 2011, p. 418. ) was a Spanish sculptor. He is the most representative Spanish ...

Francisco Ribalta Francesc Ribalta (2 June 1565 – 12 January 1628), also known as ''Francisco Ribaltá'' or ''de Ribalta'', was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, mostly of religious subjects. Biography He was born in Solsona, Lleida. Although his fi ...

school painters.Poor Clares yield to Gandia works of art that have been cherished for 550 years. Article in Levante-EMV
/ref> In 2010 the convent signed a collaboration agreement which yields works to the Town Hall of Gandia that are a part of the future Museum of the Poor Clares, at the old

Sant Marc Hospital The Archaeological Museum of Gandia is a center where is shown the archaeological heritage of La Safor and Gandia area, but especially, the materials of the Parpalló cave. In 1972, with the collaboration of the Diputación de Valencia, was offi ...

Visits

It is a cloistered convent, so it is only possible to visit the church of

Valencian Gothic Valencian Gothic is an architectural style. It occurred under the Kingdom of Valencia between the 13th and 15th centuries, which places it at the end of the European Gothic period and at the beginning of the Renaissance. The term "Valencian G ...

style which is located on the right side of the construction.

References

External links

Artícle about the Convent of Santa Clara
{{Authority control Route of the Borgias Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Valencia Buildings and structures in the Province of Valencia Convents in Spain Gothic architecture in the Valencian Community Gandia

History

Art collection

Visits

See also

References

External links