Ávila
City in central Spain where Teresa of Ávila lived as a Carmelite nun and where, in 1562, she founded the convent of St Joseph, the first house of the Discalced Carmelites.
Ávila stands on the high plateau of central Spain, north-west of Madrid. Teresa of Ávila founded the convent of St Joseph here in 1562 (Teresa, Foundations prologue 2 (p. 2)). The city’s governor and council at first resolved that the new house should not be allowed to exist and took the matter to law (Teresa, Life 36.4, 14–17). Teresa finished the Interior Castle at St Joseph’s in November 1577 (Teresa, Interior Castle epilogue). See Teresa of Ávila Reforms Carmel.
What happened here
- 24 August 1562, firm dateTeresa of Ávila Reforms Carmel
In 1562 the Carmelite nun Teresa founds the small, enclosed and unendowed convent of St Joseph at Ávila to keep her order’s rule in its early strictness. More houses follow, friars join the reform, among them John of the Cross, and both leave writings on prayer.