Seville · Spain
Convent of San Leandro
A practical guide to the Convent of San Leandro in Seville: how to buy yemas through the torno, what to say to the nun, hours, cash-only prices and what not to do inside.
Worth it for the ritual more than the sweets. It takes ten minutes and a few euros, but the yemas are very sweet and you see nothing of the convent inside.
The Convent of San Leandro is a community of cloistered Augustinian nuns on Plaza de San Ildefonso, in the heart of Seville. The nuns don’t go out and aren’t seen. For centuries they have made and sold yemas de San Leandro, sweets of egg yolk and sugar, through the torno: a wooden turntable in the wall where you place your money and that comes back with the sweets.
Our experience
We stopped by on Monday at 11:50, after Casa de Pilatos, and bought a box of yemas through the torno without seeing the nun. The timing wasn’t an accident: the torno is open in the morning until 13:00, and at 13:00 our tour of the Cathedral and the Alcázar started. It reopens in the afternoon, but by then we were going to be in Triana. We brought cash and had the greeting memorized. The rest of the day is in our day 9.
A bit of history
The Augustinian nuns founded the community in 1295, outside the city walls, at a place called the Degolladero de los Cristianos. Raids led them to ask to move, and in January 1369 King Pedro I granted them license to relocate inside the city, to this site, barely two months before he was murdered. The current church went up around 1584, and the main altarpiece was carved between 1745 and 1748 by Pedro Duque Cornejo and Felipe Fernández del Castillo.
The yemas were already being made in the 16th century. Jerez winemakers used egg whites to clarify their wine and donated the yolks to convents, which turned them into sweets. In the 19th century, when the disentailment laws stripped the nuns of land and income, they began selling yemas to the public, and those sales kept the convent alive. In 1995 it was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural, Spain’s top heritage protection.
What to see, in order
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The sweets door
A small wooden door on the plaza, with a convent-sweets sign. It's not the church's big door.
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The torno
The wooden turntable in the wall that lets money and sweets pass without anyone crossing the cloister. If it's under repair, the nun serves through a grille at another door.
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The price list
Posted in the vestibule. Read it before you ring so you have your money ready.
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The yemas of San Leandro
Small pyramids of egg yolk and sugar, with a sugar crust outside and a dense center. The nuns make them by hand with the convent's recipe.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- The nun says "Ave María Purísima" and you answer "Sin pecado concebido." Then you order: "Una caja de yemas, por favor."
- Ring the bell once and wait. The community is small, and sometimes it takes one to three minutes for someone to come.
- Bring coins and small bills: it's hard to make change through the torno.
- Between 2024 and 2025 the torno was on and off under repair. If so, you'll be pointed to a side door where the nun sells through a grille.
Do
- Speak softly: the vestibule is small and everything carries to the other side.
- Buy the small box. The yemas are very sweet; try one or two and give the rest as gifts. They keep for one to two weeks.
- If you want a photo, make it the door or the torno at rest, after your purchase.
Don’t
- Don't take photos inside the convent or during the purchase, and don't try to look behind the torno or the grille.
- Don't accept "guides" or photographers on the plaza who ask for a tip "for the nuns": the nuns get nothing.
- Don't confuse the "convent sweets" shops in the area with the convent: many resell sweets from several convents.
Frequently asked questions
What are the hours of the San Leandro torno?
Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00. Closed Sundays.
Can you visit the convent inside?
Not on a regular visit: it's cloistered. The church opens only on the 22nd of each month and at some weekday vespers.
How much do the yemas cost?
About €7 for the small box and €11 for half a kilo, in cash.
Do you need to speak Spanish?
It helps, because the nun only speaks Spanish. Saying "Yemas, por favor" and holding up fingers for how many boxes is enough.