The El Carmen complex is the identifying marker of San Ángel, especially the three tiled-covered domes of the church.
It consists of church, former monastery and school buildings.
The monastery school or "Colegio" was founded in 1613, but the building for it would not begin until two years later.
This building was designed by Fray Andrés de San Miguel with the first stone laid in 1615, and it was operational in 1617.
The school changed its name to Señora de Santa Ana in 1634, but while it retained the official name, it never caught on popularly.

The church was built between 1624 and 1626 also dedicated to San Ángel Martír.
The facade is Herrerian over which is its bell-gable, modeled after that of San José de Ávila in Spain.
The structure is topped by three domes covered in glazed tile.
The entire monastery complex was complete in 1628.
It was surrounded by large tracts of gardens and orchards, much of which is now Colonia Chimalistac to the east.
These orchards made the monastery wealthy and famous.

The monastery and school area came under the custody of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in 1939 which still maintains it.
The current museum was opened in 1955 and is one of the most visited in the city.
The museum conserves a number of the monastery's original spaces, such as the dining room, and has one of the most important collections of colonial era art in Mexico, including a permanent exhibition called "The Silence of the Carmelites."
This traces the history of the order from its origins through images, sculpture, documents, furniture and more.

One reason the museum is well-visited is the mummies on display in the basement crypt area.
From the 17th to the 19th centuries, one way that the order raised funds for its existence was to set aside crypts for donors from the wealthy families of the area.
While many of these bodies would be exhumed after a number of years, with their bones stored in an "osorio" later, some of the interred here did not completely decompose.
Between 1917 and 1918, troops ransacked the convent, looking for treasure.
What they found in the crypt area instead were a number of well-preserved, naturally occurring mummies.
The museum has twelve mummies on display in the crypt area, however, many are in deteriorating condition because they are not in hermetically sealed cases.
The El Carmen complex is the identifying marker of San Ángel, especially the three tiled-covered domes of the church. It consists of church, former monastery and school buildings. The monastery school or "Colegio" was founded in 1613, but the building for it would not begin until two years later. This building was designed by Fray Andrés de San Miguel with the first stone laid in 1615, and it was operational in 1617. The school changed its name to Señora de Santa Ana in 1634, but while it retained the official name, it never caught on popularly.
The church was built between 1624 and 1626 also dedicated to San Ángel Martír. The facade is Herrerian over which is its bell-gable, modeled after that of San José de Ávila in Spain. The structure is topped by three domes covered in glazed tile. The entire monastery complex was complete in 1628. It was surrounded by large tracts of gardens and orchards, much of which is now Colonia Chimalistac to the east. These orchards made the monastery wealthy and famous.
The monastery and school area came under the custody of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in 1939 which still maintains it. The current museum was opened in 1955 and is one of the most visited in the city. The museum conserves a number of the monastery's original spaces, such as the dining room, and has one of the most important collections of colonial era art in Mexico, including a permanent exhibition called "The Silence of the Carmelites." This traces the history of the order from its origins through images, sculpture, documents, furniture and more.
One reason the museum is well-visited is the mummies on display in the basement crypt area. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, one way that the order raised funds for its existence was to set aside crypts for donors from the wealthy families of the area. While many of these bodies would be exhumed after a number of years, with their bones stored in an "osorio" later, some of the interred here did not completely decompose. Between 1917 and 1918, troops ransacked the convent, looking for treasure. What they found in the crypt area instead were a number of well-preserved, naturally occurring mummies. The museum has twelve mummies on display in the crypt area, however, many are in deteriorating condition because they are not in hermetically sealed cases.
San Ángel