The Church of La Merced was the first convent and church founded after the initiative of four Mercedarian friars from Guatemala in 1537. The convent of La Merced was built in 1537, when Francisco Marroquin brought four Mercedarians, two of which: Fray Pedro Barrientos and Fray Pedro Benítez de Lugo, stayed in this Ciudad Real, to start the foundation of the order. The other Mercedarians: Fray Juan Zambrano and Fray Marcos Pérez Dardón, did not stay long in the city, leaving the convent even though the City Council had already granted a plot of land on March 18, 1537.