The Descalzas Reales Convent Madrid

Behind the austere brick and stone facade, some 25 brown robed nuns go about their quiet daily life. Opening hours are limited, so expect to queue. Groups are ushered in 20 at a time for a basic tour of the convent, which was founded in 1559 by Juana de Austria, daughter of Carlos V.

The convent houses the Descalzas Reales (Barefoot Royal Sisters), women who initially came from the royal family and nobility (modern nuns are generally of humbler origin). As a dowry, each brought fine religious works of art by European masters such as Titian, Brueghel the Elder, van Eyck and Zurbaran.

The tour begins in the cloisters, then climbs the massive staircase past walls painted by Ximenez Donoso and Claudio Coello. The broad stone balustrade is carved from a single piece of granite. At the top, Felipe IV and the rest of the royal family look down from their painted balcony. All around the upper cloister are elaborate chapels, the most important of which is dedicated to Virgen de Guadelupe. Don't miss the doll's house like altar in one corner, designed to teach children about the sacred vessels used during Mass. In what was once the nuns' dormitory is the restored Salon de Tapices, hung with sumptuous Flemish tapestries based on Rubens' cartoons. Peek out of the window at the kitchen garden, still tended by the sisters, even though they are overlooked by office blocks.