Depart for your overnight flight to Sevilla, Spain.

Upon arrival to Sevilla we will be greeted by our Perillo Tours representative and transfer by private air-conditioned motor coach to our hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure to help adjust to your new time zone.  Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Sevilla.       (D.)

Breakfast, In order to receive the Distinction as a Pilgrim on Saint Teresa’s Trailin Ávila -her birthplace- it will be necessary to have visited 4 towns belonging to 2 different regions, so we will reach the Sevilla Tourism Board where we will receive the first stamp on our credential as a pilgrim. Saint Teresa arrived in Sevilla in 1575 in order to found a new convent in the city, her 11th foundation. We will visit the San José Convent, known as “Las Teresas”, where we will find a considerable number of relics, among them the only portrait of Saint Teresa painted while she was alive or the original manuscript of “Las Moradas”. 

To help us understand the stay of Saint Teresa in Sevilla, we visit the San Jorge Castle -headquarters of the Inquisition- and the Carthusian Monastery. Afternoon visit to the Cathedral of Sevilla. We celebrate Mass in Sevilla. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight accommodations in Sevilla.                 (B.D.)

After breakfast we depart for Beas de Segura, where St. Teresa established her 10th foundation in 1575, the first one in Andalucía. In Beas de Segura we visit the San José del Salvador Monastery, where St. Teresa met Father Jerónimo Gracián, with whom she exchanged her concerns about the Reform of the Carmel. Important relics of the Carmelite mystical saints can be found in this monastery: Saint John of the Cross’ liturgical ornaments, Saint Teresa’s relics, the book “Libro de las Profesiones” with unpublished autographs of Saint John of the Cross and several belongings of the primitive foundation. 

The Interpretation Centreis located in an old convent-school of the Calasancia Mothers, next to the shrine of the town’s patron saint, the Madonna of La Paz. Built in the 19th century on the remains of the Castle and Fortress, in the thematic area dedicated to St. Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross. Visitors can see the room of Las Moradas and that of the mystic scale. There is also an allegory of the mystic garden. In the late afternoon we will travel to Caravaca de la Cruz for dinner and overnight at our hotel in Caravaca de la Cruz.                                                                                                                                                         (B.D.)

Breakfast, The Carmelite Reform carried out by St. Teresa and the foundation of several monasteries had a considerable impact on certain sectors of society and the Church. The religious renewal and the strength transmitted by the Saint when she appeared in public reached the ears of certain ladies from Caravaca who belonged to the most important families and, led by Doña Catalina de Otálora and Don Rodrigo de Moya, decided to lock themselves in a house and not come out until St. Teresa accepted their proposal of founding a convent in Caravaca de la Cruz. In spring 1575, the Ávila Saint, while in Beas de Segura, sent Brother John of Ávila and Antonio Gaytán to the town of Caravaca de la Cruz to arrange the terms for the possible foundation. After agreeing the conveyance of the income and ground rent with the families of the ladies who had locked themselves in the house and after obtaining the necessary license from the Council of Military Orders, Saint Teresa expressed her firm intention of personally founding a convent in Caravaca de la Cruz.  Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the monastery and the new church of San José de Caravaca de la Cruz were built and furnished with chapels, altarpieces and statues sponsored by important personalities and the donations made by many of the town’s locals.Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the monastery and the new church of San José de Caravaca de la Cruz were built and furnished with chapels, altar pieces and statues. We will also visit the Vera Cruz Sanctuary which keeps the Holy Vera Cruz of Caravaca. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Caravaca de la Cruz.                                                                                                                                                                        (B.D.)

Today we travel to Granada. The Monastery of San José de Granada was the 16th and penultimate convent to be founded by Saint Teresa. Saint John of the Cross, who was sent as the Superior of the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Los Mártires, went to pick her up from Ávila, with an order to bring her to this city and set up the Carmelite Order. Though ill and busy preparing the foundation in Burgos, the last one she was to complete herself. As she was unable to come in person, she appointed M. Ana de Jesús (Lobera) as founder and prioress, who was nicknamed ‘the captain of the prioresses’ and to whom Saint John of the Cross was to later dedicate his Spiritual Canticle when they were both in Granada. The current building, located in what might be considered the entrance to the historical quarter of Granada, known as El Realejo, at the start of the important Calle San Matías, was acquired in 1584 and the nuns moved there on 8th November of the aforesaid year. Since then, they have lived in this building and have maintained and sustained it with much effort and interest. it has been conserved as a shrine, carefully looking after the memory of Saint John of the Cross. Possibility to celebrate Mass in Granada and taste the traditional nuns’ pastries. Dinner and overnight in Granada.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         (B.D.) 

Granada the melting pot of culture- is the birthplace of poetry and flamenco, a land of knowledge and cultural reference in southern Europe; a place of unique beauty and imposing historical and human heritage and legacy. The magnificent countryside combined with the unique attraction of the city and its quarters, which have their own particular charm: from El Realejo to El Albaicín, the historical centre and Sacromonte. The grandeur of what was once a Nazarí kingdom has left behind indelible marks on the urban landscape, crowned by one of the most outstanding world heritage sites which we will discover today together with its Moorish past: the Alhambra Palace and its Generalifegardens. Afternoon at leisure in the city. Dinner and overnight in Granada.                (B.D.)

After breakfast we depart to the airport for our flight home.  (B.)