Sacralized open space, the contemporary gardens of two orders of nuns

Abstract

This article is the result of research carried out in two contemporary convents located within the municipality of Mixco, Guatemala. The main objective was to compare the open spaces of the convent gardens, contained by the convents: Trinitarian Community and the Dominican Sisters of San Sixto, in the adjudication of symbolic values of the elements that constitute them and their spatial relations with the conventual architecture, the research emphasizes the findings of the natural elements, in that sense, the following question is asked: Are the gardens open spaces sacralized within contemporary convent buildings?. It was evidenced that there are similarities between the gardens of the convents analyzed, among them the use of some species of fruit trees, palms and herbaceous, as well as the use of the image of the Virgin Mary inside a cave. Depending on the vocation of contemporary convents and manifests itself in the convent gardens use, distribution and allocation of symbolic values.