This convent was created when monks of the Franciscan Order began to restore and enlarge a 15th-century pazo (traditional manor house) that had belonged to the Sarmiento family. The church was completed first and then the pazo was converted into a convent. The cloister, small and simple, was built between 1784 and 1785 according to the inscriptions, while stones, some walls and the 16th-century doorway were preserved from the original building. The cruciform church was built in 1777 and has a rib-vaulted nave and two barrel-vaulted aisles. The square crossing has a spherical dome with lanterns on pendentives. The walls are of masonry construction except for the facade. The coats of arms on the convent walls and the church facade are from the old pazo that belonged to the Counts of Salvaterra. They all bear the arms of the Sarmiento and Soutomaior families. Additionally, this convent is where Agustina Sarmiento, one of the Meninas from the universal Velázquez painting, was born.