1 The Arco de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Arch) story begins in 1609, when four nuns of the Convento de la Inmaculada Concepción de María (Convent of the Immaculate Conception of Mary) were authorized by the government of the Spanish Colony to build a convent on 5th Avenue North.
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5 The convent had a character of seclusion due to the vows taken by the nuns that belonged to the Order "De La Inmaculada Concepción". The convent was a cloister for nuns who could not go outside or be seen by anyone. Eventually, the number of nuns admitted to the convent expanded to the point where by the head of the order having to ask the government for permission to use the building across the street, due to overcrowding.
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9 The government of the Spanish Colony granted them the building in 1693. But due to the vows of the Order, the nuns asked to close the street so that they could be able to walk from building to building without being seen, something that the government rejected. However, they were allowed to build a bridge in the shape of an arch connecting both convents.
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14 This bridge would be a closed corridor for the nuns to use to cross the street and avoid all contact with the outside world and was completed in 1694.
