After more than three hundred years of presence in León and after their farewell with the closure of the Monastery of the Incarnation on March 25, 2025, the Augustinian Recollects are the protagonists of an exhibition in the church of Palat del Rey, the oldest in the capital of León.
This temple, which is now an exhibition space of the Diocese attached to the Diocesan and Holy Week Museum, hosts an exhibition that allows for the first time to contemplate part of the valuable artistic and documentary heritage that remained in the cloister of the old monastery of the Augustinian Recollects.
The hundred or so pieces that can be seen are part of the generous donation made to the Diocese after the closure of the Monastery, which includes reliquaries, canvases, paintings on panel, copper or glass, sculptures, silverware, ivories, liturgical textile ornaments, furniture and the five thousand volumes of the monastic library.
The exhibition allows visitors to delve into the history of the Leonese monastery, the spirituality and charism of the Augustinian-Recollect Family, what life was like for the nuns, and what traces the 362 years of coexistence left on the city.
As the Bishop of León, the Claretian Luis Ángel de las Heras, noted at the inauguration, the Augustinian Recollect nuns accompanied the city with their silent and faithful prayer. Therefore, it was necessary to express gratitude and hope for their material and spiritual legacy: “Behind each piece lie years, centuries of prayer, of hidden life, of love for God, for his saints, for the universal Church, and for the Church that journeys in the Diocese of León.”
The exhibition also seeks to underline the value of the contemplative life, a gift for the Church and for the world: “In a time and cultural context marked by haste, inner dispersion and the temptation to measure life by immediate effectiveness, together with a thirst for spirituality on many levels, the contemplative life reminds the whole Church that the decisive question is not only what we can do and hope for, but also, and above all, who we are, live and act for, for whom we raise our gaze.”
- Church of San Salvador de Palat del Rey, León
- Calle Conde Luna, 3, 24003 León
- From May 29 to July 19, with this schedule:
- Wednesday: 12:00 to 13:30.
- Thursday and Friday: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
- Saturday: 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
