St John of the Cross Museum

About St John of the Cross Museum

The Museo San Juan de la Cruz occupies part of the former convent of San Miguel of the Discalced Carmelites on Calle Carmen in Úbeda, the Renaissance town in Jaén province. It is the only museum devoted to St John of the Cross, the mystic poet, and it stands where he died.

The convent was founded in 1587 with the encouragement of St Teresa of Ávila. John arrived on 28 September 1591, ill with fever, and died in one of its poorest cells around midnight between 13 and 14 December that year. His body was moved to Segovia in 1593, but in 1627 an oratory was built over the cell to house his tomb, said to be the first church anywhere raised in his honour.

The museum opened in 1978 and was expanded for the Jubilee Year of 2000 with works from other Andalusian Carmelite convents. Its twelve rooms cover his life, writings and iconography, and the old sacristy keeps relics, including two fingers of his right hand.

Contact the museum for current hours. Spring and autumn avoid the Jaén heat; a morning visit leaves time for Úbeda's monuments, and mid-December brings the saint's feast day.

St John of the Cross Museum in pictures

What you’ll find

• Museum exhibitionExhibition visitTicket
• Museum galleriesMuseum visitTicket
• Museum gift shopSouvenir purchaseBuy
• Museum guideGuided tourBook

Nearby places to visit

The Archaeological Museum of Úbeda (200 m) is in the Casa Mudéjar, a 14th- and 15th-century house built around a galleried courtyard, with finds from Palaeolithic tools to Iberian, Roman and Mudéjar pieces; the two make an easy morning together. About 25 km west, Linares has two museums devoted to musicians born in the town: the Andrés Segovia Museum (25 km), in the Palacio de los Orozco, where the guitarist is buried in the crypt, and the Raphael Museum of Linares (25 km), in the old El Pósito granary, with hundreds of pieces donated by the singer. Both keep limited hours, so check before driving over.