"The monastery of Benedictine Mothers , or monastery of the Religious of San Benito, dedicated to Our Lady of Contemplation , in Cuenca was founded on December 14, 1448 by order and commission of its founder Pedro Arias de Vamonde , canon of Cuenca , he gave to Nuño Álvarez de Fuente Encalada , precentor and canon of Cuenca .
Description
The building occupies the southern end of the block defined by the streets of González Francés, Pósito and Esperanza, at the beginning of the lack of the hill on which the old town of the city sits on its slope towards the Huécar River . Its plan is an irregular polygon, in which the façade of Pósito street rises, notably inferior, both in length and height, to the other two; and as a whole, from the entrance to the modern lower city via Pósito Street, it appears as an important five-story mass.
Facades
The SW façade is the main one of the monastery, where its access door is located; the one of greatest nobility for its exposed ashlar and masonry fabric , and above all for its orderly composition of openings, all of them defended by wrought iron bars of simple design. Above the door there is a recently made shield without any artistic value.
The façade is crowned with an eave with three levels of aperture.
The façade on González Francés Street presents an appearance of rancid severity, with its large surface of exposed stone predominating over that of holes, in the appearance of an ancient fortress ; The grayish stone factory is made of masonry with ashlar adarajas ; The fittings of most of the openings in the three main floors are also made of ashlar. The composition of holes is somewhat anarchic in terms of layout and size. Only an organization of the elevation can be seen in a horizontal sense due to its division into three bodies achieved by means of horizontal ashlar imposts , which determine a reduction in wall thickness, so that from each impost, the plane of the façade is set back. a few centimeters compared to the bottom one.
The facade on Esperanza Street is much more heterogeneous and lacks unity, appearing to correspond to several different buildings. It is undoubtedly the most altered with respect to its primitive appearance, the factory being completely covered, so that it has nothing to do with the other two.
Finally, at the highest right end of the façade at the culmination of the slope, the body of the church can be seen, in turn, manifested in two different parts, also by highlighted plaster fascias and a cornice finish of the same material and simple molding, on two staggered levels corresponding to the different heights of the roofs of both bodies. In the lower body, we find a Romanesque doorway with a pointed arch and stone jambs that was undoubtedly the old access to the chapel, today walled up and converted from the inside into a niche ; Above it is a circular oculus, also walled up. In the immediate upper body, the façade presents a simple symmetrical composition with two semicircular arch windows that give light to the head of the church, with bars of modernist design and molded fencing, on which and in the central axis of the composition opens another oculus similar to that of the condemned door.
Covers
On the roofs of these two bodies of the church and in the second bay, there are separate elevations of another very recent building floor, carried out for the needs of expansion of the convent, without any compositional concern and which noticeably spoil the appearance of this upper end of the church. the façade, precisely because it is more visible from the Plaza de la Esperanza where the street ends.
Plants
The building is developed in a total of five floors or levels:
First floor : The student residence-boarding school is located there, with a façade and access to González Francés Street, and part of Pósito Street. The main access to the monastery and some parts of the inn opens onto this same street .
Second floor : In the immediate bay on González Francés Street, the second floor of the residence is located, with bedroom modules, the main staircase of the monastery that connects all the floors and independent of the one that connects those of the boarding school, the cloister under the turnstile to the patio in its NW wing, and another staircase immediately to the main one that links this floor with the lower one.
Third floor : The patio has a greater extension from this level onwards. The already closed patio develops around the patio; an area of ??warehouse premises on its SW side and the library on the NE side.
In the bay corresponding to González Francés Street, the top floor of the residence-boarding school is located, occupying the dining room, kitchen and office, with the latter communicating with the cloister .
In the bay corresponding to the SW façade there is the infirmary, pharmacy and a cell with its service. In the bay corresponding to the Esperanza Street façade, from SW to NE, the top floor of the inn is located with a living room, stairwell and rooms with their bathrooms.
The rest of the bay, parallel to the cloister, is occupied by the church in the double height corresponding to this floor and the upper one. The church is occupied by the conventual choir with double wooden stalls and is covered with a beautiful 16th century ribbed vault , the work of Pedro de Alviz. The rest of the nave is covered with a simple half-barrel plaster vault, with false transverse arches that divide it into four sections, the last one corresponding immediately to the choir, to the presbytery , where the free-standing altar is located.
Fourth floor : It is entirely occupied by the cloister, with the refectory and the kitchen and services, in the bay corresponding to González Francés Street. The bay corresponding to Calle del Pósito is occupied by offices and study and work rooms and the SE wing, the bay corresponding to Calle Esperanza, is occupied by the primitive choir.
Fifth floor : Also dedicated entirely to the cloister with the perimeter cloister, which gives access to the set of cells with windows to the patio, except for the SE wing, in which said cloister has direct lights to it.
Sixth floor : It is located in the NE area of ??the building, occupying a small L -shaped area , between both patios and in the interior bay with respect to Esperanza Street."
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