A pleasant and unexpected surprise

While Anne was busy with the house, I headed out this morning to the 16th century Convento de Caño Santos, that sits on a hillside about 20 minutes drive east of Olvera, on the road to the pueblo of Alcalá del Valle.

Apart from being in a beautiful location, I was interested to see whether any further restoration work had been undertaken since my last visit about eighteen months ago.
See here an article from 2007 that detailed the plans.

I did notice that the entrances to the grottos were now padlocked shut. On previous visits, they were open and accessible.

Candles and flowers at the entrance to one of the grottos.

The views from the grounds are stunning.

The building was closed to the public and as I was trying to look through the windows, a group of people arrived who introduced themselves and kindly invited me to join them on a tour of the inside.

Pictured here are Hans, Antonio, Miranda and Angela, all residents of nearby Alcalá.

Hans and Miranda have recently opened their restored cortijo "El Guarda", offering comfortable and relaxed accommodation in traditional Andalucian style near to Alcalá.
Antonio and Angela were friends who had obtained the keys to the building and were happy to also show me around.
What a rare and fantastic opportunity and one I was extremely grateful to accept.

Inside, there was clear evidence that extensive restorations had taken place to convert the convent into a hotel although Antonio explained that work had stopped a few years ago due to funding problems.

The central atreum was very impressive.

Many of the rooms were near completion and clearly a lot of money had been spent.
Sadly however, it was also clear that the years of neglect were taking its toll on the building with broken windows, peeling paint and some evidence of vandalism.

Antonio was the perfect guide and showed us every aspect of the building including the bell tower. Here, the entrance to the stairs leading to the tower.

It was a pleasure to meet Miranda and Hans, a very friendly couple, and I wish them every success in their new and exciting venture.

And also to Angela and Antonio of course for being very informative and pleasant hosts and for giving me the opportunity to look at yet another of the treasures that Andalucia has to offer.