“Abastos” Municipal Market
Without leaving the Church outskirts in front of its North façade, we can find the present-day Abastos Municipal Market. Although the current building does not correspond to the Medieval period, the “Convento de las Agustinas Descalzas” (Convent of the Barefoot Augustine Nuns) was built in this plot in the 17th Century; its orchard housed a tower most likely the “d´en Cairat” Tower which contained the body of Sister María Gallard, the founder of this religious community.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the former convent building was destroyed by the Municipal council to build a roofed marketplace in its place. The war hindered the completion of this project and it was postponed until 1946, the year in which the current Abastos Municipal Market was inaugurated; its construction style was designed to be compatible with the nearby Church.
In the late Middle Ages, the Counter-Reformation stimulated a religious interest which led to the creation of convents and monasteries such as the “Convento de los Mínimos” (Monastery of Minimum Friars) in the 17th Century in the Placeta del Convent (Monastery Square) outside the city walls. Unfortunately it too was destroyed during the Civil War (1936) and in 1946, the Convento de la Agustinas Descalzas (Convent of the Augustine Barefoot Nuns) was built in its plot, in which we highlight several paintings by Soler Blasco.
