Agustinas Ermitanas Convento Santa Ursula (Convent of St. Ursula), Toledo

The Convent of Saint Ursula dates back to 1259, when it was founded as a beguinage under the rule of San Agustín. Over the years, the convent acquired its current structure, which features numerous dependencies arranged around two patios. The origins of the church's construction are uncertain, but it is believed that a previous church existed for use as a beguinage before the current one was built in 1360.

One of the most remarkable features of the convent is the Mudejar apse, which is preserved from the medieval period. The apse departs from the Toledo model because it is built with taped masonry, instead of the well-known brick arches. It features three windows in the upper part that maintain the traditional combination of a pointed horseshoe arch, sheltered by another lobed one. In the intermediate spaces, two shields have been incorporated that correspond to Don Antonio de Ulloa and his wife, Doña Inés de Bazán. They paid for the remodeling of the main chapel for their burial between 1603 and 1625.

The nave of the church was originally a single nave, but two lateral bodies were added with the same taped masonry fabric. They repeat the scheme of the facades of the transept in Santiago del Arrabal, with staggered straight pinion finish and rose window motif between arches, all decorated with lobes. To the right of the apse is a room called the "old choir," which still has remnants of a wooden roof with a frieze around it, under which fragments of an inscription in Gothic characters can be seen.

In the dependencies used as a convent, several reforms have altered the primitive arrangement derived from the grouping of several housing nuclei. The "big cloister" was remodeled in 1623, and two of its canvases had to be demolished and redone. The cloister was almost eliminated when most of the space was incorporated into the church, for the nuns' choir, through a work carried out in 1758 by José Sierra, then architect of the cathedral.

The Agustinas Ermitanas Convento Santa Ursula is a remarkable religious structure that showcases the evolution of its construction over time. Its Mudejar apse, shields, and taped masonry fabric make it unique and worth visiting for those interested in architectural history.