A short time after the canonisation of Saint Clare (1255), a group of Poor Clares (Clarissine nuns) from a monastery in Tarragona arrived in Mallorca to found this monastery, which is one of the best examples of medieval art in Palma. The papal enclosure has been preserved at this convent.

Father Serra was known in his time as a great preacher. Good evidence of this is that  the church of this convent still houses the pulpit from which Junípero Serra preached the four lessons of the Seraphic school in 1744, the only known pulpit teaching.

Santa Clara is also known for giving visitors the opportunity to buy local products; the Poor Clares sell delicious sweets, and they also craft tablecloths with ‘telas de lenguas’ (a local fabric named for its distinctive pattern resembling tongues of flame) in different colours.