Monastery Santo Tomas

Life at the residencia At Monastery Santo Tomás has been interesting. I'm not a fan of living in the dorm. The good wasn't great and the people were a decade (or more?) younger than me. Rough. The place did have an overgrown soccer field, 4 horses in the back pasture, laundry facilities, tv salon, exercise room, private rooms with baths and ping pong.

The residencia, which is rented to university students, international professors, conference attendees and visiting clergy. It is attached to the monastery. On my birthday, I decided to pay the small fee to take the tour of the grounds, church and museums.

From the website...
"This monastery was constructed in 1482 with funding from los Reyes Católicos, Fernando and Isabel, and is the burial place of their only son, Don Juan, who died here aged 19. The prince's tomb is modelled from alabaster carved by Florentine Domenico di Sandro Fancelli. The headquarters of the royals' adviser and confessor, the notorious Friar Tomás Torquemada, were also based here.
Torquemada was Spain's first Grand Inquisitor who was the zealous leader of the witch-hunts of the 15th century. The Inquisitor is also buried here.
This Avila monastery is a three-cloister complex - Noviciado (Noviciate), Silencio (Silence) and Reyes (Kings)- with the third cloister's regal rooms housing the Dominican's Oriental Art Museum"