Calle de Santa Teresa

Las Salesas·Justicia

The street takes its name from the convent of Discalced Carmelites of Santa Teresa, which occupied this block from 1684 until its demolition in 1869. It honors not so much Teresa of Ávila as a person, but the religious building that dominated the area for almost two centuries; the saint is the ultimate reference, though the street is named for the institution.

Calle de Santa Teresa exists because a convent ceased to exist. Its entire block, in the Justicia neighborhood, was until 1869 the full enclosure of the Discalced Carmelites, with their orchard and garden. When the monastery fell, the city inherited its plot carved into four new streets. The nobility had founded it in 1684, with eight nuns arriving from Ocaña and the first Mass celebrated before Charles II. Within those walls great art was kept: an Immaculate Conception by Pedro de Mena, a carving by Luisa Roldán, and even a manuscript of the Way of Perfection with notes in the saint’s own hand. The Revolution of 1868 expelled the community. In 1869 the pickaxes tore down the convent and the block was parceled out into Argensola, Campoamor, Justiniano and Santa Teresa, the last as the only name to recall the erased monastery.

Its names

  • Calle del Convento de Santa Teresa (denominación informal)1684 – c. 1769
  • Calle de Santa Teresac. 1769 – actualidad
Sources (8)

Crossings