Ex convento de Santa Rosa de Lima ("Ex-Convent of Saint Rose of Lima")
Museo de Arte Popular ("Museum of Popular Art")
The aromas of Pueblan cooking fill every nook and cranny.
3 Norte between 12 and 14 Poniente

The impetus to found this convent came in 1671 with the desire to form a religious association to honor St Agnes, and from there to creating a spiritual sanctuary for women who wanted to devote their lives to God but for some reason couldn't enter a convent. Capitalizing on the canonization of the Peruvian Isabel Flores under the name "Saint Rose of Lima", it was decided to take the necessary steps to dedicate the sanctuary to this saint, the first of the Americas. And so the convent was formally organized in 1740 and remained as such until 1861, when, because of the Reform Laws, the nuns were expelled from the convent and the site was converted into a mental asylum and later tenement housing and a place for shops selling various items, from candy to bicycles. What had been the refectory of the convent was repurposed as a kitchen to prepare food for the old prison a few streets away.

In this area where the former kitchen of the convent used to be was established in 1926 a ceramics museum which coexisted with the tenement housing. It wasn't until 1968 that the building was restored and in 1973 it opened as a modest museum of Puebla handicrafts. Today it is one of the most beautiful sites in all Mexico, with totally unique architecture.

You can still see the fountain decorated with talavera mosaic in the main courtyard, as well as its walls that mix talavera and brick, its plasterwork with Catholic symbols and its moldings that are an example of the mastery achieved in Puebla of decorating with talavera. You can also admire the murals that decorated the entire cloister.

The collection of Puebla handicrafts is unique, from the pottery to the textiles, glass, furniture, traditional amate-bark paper, toys, masks, ceramic etc, examples of the mastery of the hands of Puebla's craftsmen.

Don't miss the wonderful kitchen where according to legend a nun called Sister Andrea de la Asunción invented mole poblano, the famous sauce renowned throughout Mexico and the world! You can still see the ledges where fresh bread was stored and all the extra features that make Puebla kitchens unique.

Don't miss either the paintings in the entrance with images of Dominican saints and the portrait of one of the convent's founders!