This was one of the first convents founded in New Spain. A portico at the top of a cobblestone ramp stands with the solitary bell tower, marking the entrance to the atrium. This terrace, overlooking the city and the arenas, contains the church and convent. Two stairways lead off it, then meet up farther down, tightly encircling an open chapel completed in 1539. The church still boasts its coffered cedar ceiling and fine gilded wood retables. The renovated convent houses a Museo Regional (archaeology and colonial art).