Templo y ex Convento de Santa Mónica ("Church and Ex-Convent of St Monica")
Museo de Arte Religioso ("Museum of Religious Art")
A beautiful building that houses a great artistic treasure.
Calle 5 de Mayo and 18 Poniente

Chronicles say that the convent owed its foundation in 1606 to the idea of creating a hostel where married noblewomen could stay while their husbands were away. After a time in which all kinds of women stayed there, in 1682 a school dedicated to St Monica was opened and two years later it became an Augustine convent. Donations allowed the convent complex and church to be completed by the end of the century.

It wasn't until 1943, a very long time after the anti-clerical Reform Laws (1859-60) ordered nuns to leave convents, that it was discovered that the Convent of St Monica was still operating clandestinely. The government stepped in and with the many confisctaed items and others from various collections set up the "Museum of Religious Art", which includes in its collection unique works of art from the colonial era. The cloister, with its fountain decorated with plants and talavera tiles, looks much the same as it would have during the colonial era. The courtyard, like other convents, has walls covered in brick and tile that give it an air of antiquity and serenity.

The church is the destination of many Catholics who arrive every day to visit one of the most beloved and miraculous images in the city, the Lord of Miracles. The legend goes that after a man got out of the San Juan de Dios prison, opposite this church, his wife continued taking food to another prisoner, who had been abandoned by his family.

Someone told him what his wife was doing and seized with jealousy he went to wait for her outside the prison gate, and when he saw her arrive, filled with rage he demanded to see what was in the basket she was carrying, pressing her for an explanation, to which the woman answered that she was carrying "maravillas para el Señor" (literally "miracles for the Lord" or possibly "marigolds for the gentleman"). Grabbing the basket, he saw that it was, miraculously, filled with "maravillas", literally "miracles" but also a name for marigolds, small flowers with yellow petals. From that moment on, faith in the "Lord of Miracles" began to grow, reaching the point that today this small church receives visitors from all over the country and even overseas.

Don't miss out on the Museum of Religious Art; see the amazing carving on the church doors, and get a close-up view of one of the most important displays of folk belief in Mexico!