El Convento, Cultural Space

CULTURE COMES TO LIFE IN THE SPACE OF ‘EL CONVENTO’

An emblematic building considered an asset of local relevance. It was built together with the church of San Francisco de Paula more than four centuries ago. It was occupied by the order of ‘mínimos’ around 1603 until its disentailment in 1821 when it was donated by the Government to the Town Council of Viver. The church continued to be used for worship and the convent building was used for various purposes such as school, prison, Local Agrarian Chamber, Civil Guard barracks, suffering great deterioration. From 2002 to 2018 it was restored and refurbished. It was inaugurated during the patron saint festivities of San Miguel in 2019, and since then it has become a cultural centre of regional reference in the heart of the village, a meeting point that brings life and generates social fabric.

It has a range of versatile spaces: The basement houses the CIBAL (Centro de Interpretación de la Batalla de Levante), a space for registering museum heritage; infoturist offices, cloister, two exhibition halls or for holding conferences, events, courses and lectures on the ground floor; on the first floor, a library with space for adults, children and young people, rooms for the EPA (Permanent Education for Adults), both formal education and basic education and various training, book presentations, reading club; Rural Technology Centre, guidance and advice on digital skills, employment and administrative procedures of the CDR (Centre for Rural Development), as well as coworking.

The cloister, due to its beauty and good acoustics, has become a living and vibrant witness of culture and art in Viver.