Facade The facade is composed of the front of the church and the portico of access to the convent that forms a right angle with it. The front of the church is one of the most beautiful examples of
Plateresque. It is conceived as a portal-altarpiece forming a triumphal arch under whose half-barrel vault the abundant decoration characteristic of the style is displayed. In its center is represented the martyrdom of
Saint Stephen and above a Calvary, reliefs both executed by
Juan Antonio Ceroni at the beginning of the 17th century. can be seen in the background. The portico, composed of semicircular arches, is inspired by Italian Renaissance loggias, contrasting its sparse ornamentation with the decorative exuberance of the church façade. It was made by
Juan Ribero de Rada between 1590 and 1592, but the medallions of the
spandrels are the work of
sculptor Martín Rodríguez.
Church Its construction was begun by the architect
Juan de Álava in 1524 and was followed by Friar
Martín de Santiago who was succeeded by
Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, being consecrated in 1610. It has a Latin cross plan and a single nave, with chapels between the buttresses and the choir raised on a
segmental arch at the foot of the church. The styles present are late Gothic from the transept to the feet, and Renaissance that includes the transept, the dome and the presbytery. It is 14.50 m wide, 27 m high in the nave and 44 m in the dome. In the choir stand out the painting of the
Triumph of the Church, by
Antonio Palomino, and a
Virgin and Child, by
Peter Paul Rubens.
Main altarpiece Work of
José Benito de Churriguera, which tops the head of the church. Six large solomonic columns, covered with vegetal decoration, run along the first body, in the center of which is the central tabernacle conceived as a small temple, flanked by a pair of columns on each side; between these and those of the two at the ends are two niches that shelter the sculptures of
Saint Dominic and
Saint Francis of Assisi, attributed to the author of the altarpiece. The second body has as center and top a painting by
Claudio Coello whose theme is the martyrdom of St. Stephen. Everything is gilded and covered with profuse decoration, giving rise to one of the most monumental
baroque altarpieces typically Spanish.
Sacristy Built in the 17th century under the patronage of Fray
Pedro de Herrera Suárez, bishop of
Tuy, by the architects
Alonso Sardiña and
Juan Moreno. Of classical taste, the walls are covered by
Corinthian order pilasters with curved and triangular split pediments topped with pyramids. The frieze is decorated with corbels and various allegories. The founder built the sacristy to make it also his burial place. Thus, in an elevated niche on the left side is his praying effigy in polychrome stone, the work of
Antonio de Paz. Of the same author are the images of the Assumption of the Virgin, St. Peter and St. Paul that are in the headwall, presided over by an earlier Christ known as
Jesús de la Promesa.
Cloister and chapters The main cloister, called "de procesiones" or de los Reyes, is the work of
Friar Martín de Santiago, a religious of the convent. On the first floor it mixes
Gothic and
Renaissance elements. The arches that separate it from the garden are semicircular, Renaissance, although treated in the Gothic style since they are divided by three
mulliones. The vaults of its four
crujías are ribbed, characteristic of the Gothic style. In the center of the garden there is a small shrine. On the upper floor the roof is a simple wooden
artesonado, the galleries being opened by means of forty semicircular arches, which rest on pilasters whose capitals are decorated with grotesques and other motifs. The first floor leads to the "Chapters". The "Old Chapter", dark, modest and austere, dates from the 14th century, with works in the following centuries. One of its parts is the chapel, in the highest part and where the most prominent members of the convent were buried, such as
Francisco de Vitoria or
Domingo de Soto. The other religious were buried in the lower part and the friars sat on the benches attached to the walls during their meetings. The "new Chapter", larger, more monumental and illuminated than the old one, dates from the 17th century, resembling in its layout the Sacristy, which is accessed through the start of the Stairway of Soto.
Staircase of Soto between 1553 and 1556. It was built between 1553 and 1556. Its name is due to the patronage of
Friar Domingo de Soto, professor at the
University of Salamanca (belonging to the
School of Salamanca) and confessor to
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The author was the architect
Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, who used a new and revolutionary technique, since it only rests on the walls, cantilevered, without other supports, creating a quite diaphanous space that seems to hold miraculously, and that allows the transit from the lower part of the cloister to the upper part. Its decoration is made up of flowered coffers and a polychrome relief in its upper section showing
Mary Magdalene.
Sepulchre of the Grand Duke of Alba Grand Duke of Alba died in
Tomar, a town near Lisbon, on December 11, 1582, at the age of seventy-four. His remains were initially transferred to
Alba de Tormes, where he was buried in the Convent of San Leonardo. In 1619 they were transferred to the Convento de San Esteban, where since 1983 they rest in a chapel of the convent that contains a mausoleum designed by
Chueca Goitia and that was paid for by the
Diputación Provincial de Salamanca.
Areas reserved for the monastic community In the area that cannot be visited at present because it is reserved for the community, there are two more cloisters. The first of these, known as the "Columbus cloister", is so called because, according to tradition, it was here that the discoverer held talks with the friars about his plans. It dates from the end of the 15th century, but its layout is simple, with semicircular arches resting on robust and simple capitals; it has a baroque window at the back. The other cloister, called "Los Aljibes cloister", has lowered arches and a decorative austerity marked by empty spaces and smooth surfaces that contrasts with the decorative exuberance present in other parts of the monument. ==Institutions==