440 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



shoulder. They observe the Franciscan rule. It was founded by Dona 

 Ines Muiioz de Ribera, wife of Francisco Martin de Alcantara, 

 brother of the Marques Don Francisco Pizarro ; by a second marriage, 

 she was wife of Don Antonio de Ribera, Knight of the Order of 

 Santiago, whose death, and that of a son, leaving her with great 

 wealth, led her, under God's guidance, to build this convent for His 

 betrothed. This magnificent convent contains more than 500 nuns 

 and service personnel. Its temple is superb, with a ceiling all paneled 

 with gold flowers of marvelous workmanship ; this was finished while 

 Dona Rafaela Celis de Padilla was Abbess. 



1263. Among the fine altars here, that of John the Baptist is most 

 sumptuous, the altarpiece and decoration being so rich that it can vie 

 without reservation with any other sanctuary in the world. In music 

 it competes on a par with the Encarnacion, and in individual voices 

 it has won the palm, and that in festivals as important and conspicuous 

 as that of the Incarnation, which is no slight praise. 



1264. The third place is held by the convent of the Santisima 

 Trinidad, of the Order of St. Bernard, though it does not possess 

 such large revenues or property as the others. Its founder was Dofia 

 Lucrecia de Sansoles, a woman of great force and discipline of charac- 

 ter, but severe and somewhat overzealous ; after her death they chose 

 a better location, and though their means were limited, her successors 

 in the administration have brought a splendid temple to completion. 

 It contains over 100 nuns; some claim their music is on a par with 

 that of the better convents. 



1265. The convent of Santa Clara is a later foundation ; they were 

 aided by the zeal of the sainted Archbishop Don Toribio Alfonso 

 Mogrovejo ; it was he who contributed the initial impulse, the funds, 

 and the personnel up to the death of Francisco de Saldana, a man 

 of excellent intentions and holy zeal, although from its foundation 

 he had already helped the sainted Archbishop all he could. This con- 

 vent contains more nuns than the Trinidad, and it would appear that 

 their music carries ofif the palm, since novelty is always popular. 



1266. Next in order comes the convent of the Barefoot Nuns of 

 St. Joseph of La Concepcion, under the same Franciscan rule. Their 

 numbers are limited to 33 nuns, corresponding to the years of Christ's 

 age. The founders were Dona Leonor de Ribera and Dona Beatriz 

 de Orozco, sisters of Rodrigo de Orozco, the great soldier, Marques 

 de Mortara, and Dofia Maria de Orozco, founder of the convent of 

 La Concepcion at Loja in Peru, whom I confessed when I was in 

 that Kingdom, and about whose virtues many books could be written, 

 as in fact she herself has written them, on the revelations and other 



