Feria

Seville, beautiful and diverse

The ensemble is a 17th century baroque building commissioned by Alvaro de Castilla in 1614 as a convent and hospital, to which the church is attached. 

This is a monument of great interest although unfortunately only the outer walls remain, including a doorway that, according to tradition, belonged to the now defunct monastery of San Francisco and which has a simple Renaissance design attributed to Hernán Ruiz II himself, who was involved in the design of the parish church tower.

This convent, which disappeared after Mendizábal's disentailment, remained standing until a few decades ago. After its demolition to make way for the present construction, only what was the front garden of the convent and the doorway of the church remain.

This former infirmary hospice of the Basilian monks has been converted into a tenement house. Its two-level cloister consists of an inner courtyard with a gallery of semicircular arches, supported by Tuscan columns, each arch framed by an alfiz, while the smaller upper part has been completely altered by successive renovations.

Belonging to the Order of San Jerónimo, it has been located in Calle Corredera since 1943, after the original convent was destroyed.

The most outstanding features of its simple rectangular chapel are the Main Altarpiece with a 16th-century image of the Virgen de la Asunción, a 17th-century canvas of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes and a small 17th-century crucifix.

The first reference to the Franciscan Fathers dates back to 1570 when they founded the St Francis Convent. The origin of this Convent can be attributed to the constant visits that the Franciscan friars made to Lebrija in their evangelisation ministry. It has been argued that before they had their own Convent, they would spend the nights at the Shrine to Saint Benedict.

A city of God opened its doors in the centre of Lebrija on 28 August 1518. The Monastery of the Immaculate Conception celebrated in 2018 its 500-years of uninterrupted work, daily prayer and monastic life of the Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Franciscan Conceptionist Sisters, who have lived here since its opening.