Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana

What it is

This building, now the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, was originally the Convent of St Jerome, founded in 1585 in Mexico City. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz lived here from 1669 until her death in 1695, producing most of her writing within its walls.

Why it matters

After the convent closed in the 19th century, the complex passed through many uses, including a dance hall, before being excavated and restored by the Mexican government starting in the 1970s. In 1979 it became a university focused on the humanities. The building's survival and restoration show how Mexico has worked to preserve the physical setting of Sor Juana's life and the material details of convent life uncovered during excavation.

Look closer

• What can a building tell us about a writer's daily life that her texts cannot?
• Why might the Mexican government have chosen to restore this specific site?
• What was lost when the convent was divided and put to other uses in earlier centuries?