Convent of Santa Inés

You are standing outside the convent of Santa Inés, a community of Poor Clare nuns still going after more than six centuries. The street is called Doña María Coronel, and with good reason: she founded this house, and hers is one of the most chilling stories in Seville.

1What the records say

María Fernández Coronel lived in the 14th century, in the reign of King Peter I of Castile. Her father, Alfonso Fernández Coronel, was beheaded on the king's orders in 1353, and her husband, Juan de la Cerda, met the same fate in 1357, both for rebelling against the monarch. She lost her property and only recovered it under Henry II. In the 1370s she founded this convent, where she died in the early 15th century.

2What the legend says

Tradition adds a terrible episode: pursued by the king, María took refuge in a convent and, feeling there was no way out, poured boiling oil over her face and chest so that the monarch would stop desiring her.

According to tradition, her body has remained incorrupt, and the nuns display it every 2 December, the anniversary of her death.

The convent also has a second, literary life: Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer set his legend «Maese Pérez el organista» here, a tale in which the organ plays miraculously at Midnight Mass after its organist has died.

3What to look for

• The doorway and its lamb medallion, the symbol of Saint Agnes.
• The street sign, which keeps the founder's name.
• The convent's turntable, if open: the nuns sell sweets without ever being seen.