In the very heart of Madrid, steps away from the bustle of streets thronged with visitors to the shops and shopping centres that fill this part of the city, the sturdy facades of an old monastery stand out in sharp relief. Built in the Toledan style, with flint rubblework between brick string courses, these walls rise like an impenetrable fortress, seeming to shield from the daily commotion of a contemporary, consumerist and cosmopolitan city the rich world of contemplation, spirituality and sublime art that governs the lives of the Poor Clare nuns who dwell within. This is the Monastery of las Descalzas Reales.
