The Iglesia-Convento de Santa Teresa stands on the site of the house where Teresa de Jesús (Teresa of Ávila) was born in 1515. The church was built over the birthplace in 1636, more than fifty years after her death. Teresa was a Carmelite nun who reformed the order, founded seventeen new convents across Spain, and wrote some of the most influential mystical texts in the Christian tradition — including the Interior Castle, still read by contemplatives worldwide.
The church interior contains a small chapel marking the exact room where she was born, a reliquary chapel with various relics, and paintings depicting scenes from her life. The adjacent museum covers her biography and the history of the Discalced Carmelite reform she initiated with John of the Cross. The shop sells yemas de Santa Teresa — the egg-yolk confections traditionally associated with the convents of Ávila — and these are worth buying here rather than at the tourist shops. The convent is still an active religious community.