convento de las duenas

Convento de las Dueñas has one of the finest Renaissance inner patios in the world. Do not miss it. Also you can get very good cookies and sweets home made by the cloistered nuns who are very hospitable. Do not forget to see the museum, it has very interesting information regarding the slave industry.

This is an absolute must see...The cloister is exquisite with two tiers of columns each beautifully carved with mystical creatures all in magnificent condition, it is hard to believe that this dates from 1530 when it was built. This is a fully functional Dominican Convent so only opens at certain hours so check with the tourist office in the Plaza Mayor for details.

Well worth the few euros entrance fee to visit the old convent. Whilst there treat yourself and buy some delicious biscuits from the nuns at the convent...really lovely experience...will never forget my time here....

I have seen many Convents and Monasteries, particularly in Spain and Portugal and it is difficult not to admire and appreciate the architecture and all that they offer. However, this one is much smaller and intimate, quite absorbing and very restful. My wife and I were felt very differently here than any others we had been to, it is a pity that there is not more to appreciate as it appears much of it is still occupied.

When you enter the cloisters you find yourself in another world, totally apart from the lively city just behind the walls. Cloisters with finely carved decorated arches surround a small garden. Inside there's a small exhibition dedicated to one of the nuns of the convent. Calm and relaxing place. Entrance fee is 2 euros.

The main feature of this place is its beatiful and very peaceful double cloister from the Renaissance and the tranquility of its inner garden. A delicious place to enjoy a few moments of relaxation among the hustle of the city tours.

Beautiful cloisters, very nic gardens. Interesting gargoyles, very peaceful. Well worth the two euros admittance.

Fine art, very old religious artifacts, and books. The church and choir area was impressive, too. Recommend a visit

We didn't visit the convent inside for lack of time, just the garden. But we did buy the anis biscuits and they were excellent!

Apart from being a tourist attraction, the Sisters sell their sweet confections here. An entrance fee of 2 Euro per person as at September 2012 is well worth it. Gorgeous pentagonal cloister with intricately carved stone pillars and pretty garden. Incredibly peaceful - so hard to believe this is in the middle of a busy city. Do take the time to visit if you can.

We had mixed feelings about this when we visited. It was nice to buy cakes from the nun at the door, but there isn't very much else to see. There are a couple of room of various religious artworks, a very interesting room as one other reviewer has mentioned on Sister Teresa Chikaba (although there was no information in English when we went) and which shows the dreadful conditions in which slaves were transported. The cloisters are lovely, with some great carvings, some of which look decidedly gruesome. It is very peaceful there, but basically, you don't get to see much more than that. Compared to the other convents that you can visit, this can be a very quick visit. It is a nice place, but if I had to choose, I'd go to the Convent de Santa Clara and see much more.

Beautiful renaissance courtyard enclosing a lovely rose garden. Do buy some of the delicious almond pastries from the very sweet smiley sister behind the grille in the shop

We were there at lunch time. It was closed. We could see one of its nun though, grabing the bread that had just been left by their door. Very quiet and pretty!

Just as other reviewers have noted, this is a beautiful and tranquil cloisters, with amazing details in the sculptural elements of the columns etc. The nuns also make excellent cookies, and if you are lucky, the Sister who sells them will regale you with interesting stories. Which brings me to the detail that no one seems to have mentioned. The convent was the home to Sister Theresa, otherwise known as La Negrita, an enslaved West African woman who, captured in the middle seventeenth-century, lived as a slave in Madrid for a decade before being allowed to join the convent and become a Religious. She was recently (2003) beatified, and is on the road to sainthood even as we speak. The convent has a room dedicated to her and will sell you a little hagiography of her life (in English or Spanish). She was interred in the cloister and her sepulcher is quite moving. We were so glad to have stumbled upon this rare history of race and slavery in early Modern Spanish history. It was moving and odd all at once. Definitely worth the price of admission! (which was, btw, only 2 Euros)

Located next to the convent of San Estebon, this one also offers a chance to the see the cloisters, but little else. The cloisters are unique in that they are not square. The detail around the cloisters are also of special note. Some particularly disturbing figures can be seen there. There is an old map of Salamanca in one of the rooms which I found interesting.