The sixth of 17 communities founded by St. Teresa of Avila, in 1569. St. John of the Cross may have written his Dark Night of the Soul and Ascent of Mount Carmel here.
In 1836 the convent was confiscated by the Spanish government, but in 1855 was reoccupied by Conceptionist Franciscan nuns. Today it serves as a Conceptionist convent and Teresan museum.