museo palacio de don pedro i

The Museo Palacio de Don Pedro I is part of the Convento de Santa Clara in Astudillo (between Palencia and Burgos). The buildings from the 14th and 15th century were once the Palacio de Don Pedro I El Cruel and the Palacio de Doña María de Padilla. To visit the museum, we asked a nun for help. After a short while we were very friendly admitted by another nun. The nun appologized that the English speaking nun was not available due to a doctor's visit. Once more she appologized that she doesn't speak any foreign language. So we got a guided tour of approximately 1 hour in Spanish. To our great surprise we understood much more than we ever had expected! The Real Monasterio de Santa Clara was founded in 1353 by María de Padilla, mistress of King Pedro I of Castilla. First we were guided through the church and the choir in Gothic-Mudéjar style. Then we visited the former palace of Don Pedro I and María de Padilla which is beautifully restored after it had been used even as a stable for animals for a while. We totally understood the nun's pride about the wonderful carved ceilings and plasterwork in Mudéjar style. The sacred art collection of the museum also contains a very big collection of nativity scenes from all over the world. We were also guided into the garden which is a beautiful space with plants, flowers and a water basin that suits a former palace as well as a convent. As far as we understand the museum is open Tue-Sun 11-13 and 17-19 hours, Monday closed. The entrance fee is EUR 3,-.The town Astudillo itself is a nice little place with the medieval gateway Puerta de San Martin which once was part of the citywall. From the ruins of the former castle you can overlook the whole town and you have a nice view of the area around it. Next to the Sta. Eugenia De Astudillo church the arcaded Plaza Mayor with some small palacios is definitely worth a visit.

El museo está justo al lado del convento de las monjas clarisas que lo cuidan y así lo tienen de limpio y de bonito.El museo y la historia del convento merecen una visita y rematarla con un corderito lechal en tierra de campos.