It was founded in 1480 by the treasurer of the Catholic Monarchs, Hernán Núñez de Arnalte, who granted power of attorney to his wife, María Dávila, and Fray Tomás de Torquemada to act on his behalf for the foundation of a Dominican convent in Ávila in honour of Saint Thomas Aquinas. It was expressly declared a World Heritage Site in 1985, as an individual element forming part of the Old City of Avila and churches outside the walls.

In 1482, under the direction of Martín de Solórzano, work began, which lasted until 1493, with donations provided by Don Hernán, and others granted by the Catholic Monarchs, who chose the new convent for the summer residence and burial of the heir to the crown, Prince Don Juan, in the tomb made years later by Domenico Fancelli, commissioned by Ferdinand the Catholic.

It was used as a tribunal for the Inquisition. Its rooms housed the last years of Friar Tomás de Torquemada until his death on 16 September 1498. It was also a house of study and later a university. In the style of the Catholic Monarchs, the monastery of Santo Tomás is one of the jewels of Ávila. It is a large monastery, with up to three different cloisters.

The façade of the church is distinguished by its immense façade with a large segmental arch and two buttresses. These form an "H", the initial letter of Hispanidad. The balls that run along the machones abound throughout the building. In addition, ten statues of Burgos art by Gil de Siloé and Diego de la Cruz can be seen under canopies and pinnacles. The ones closest to the door represent the Annunciation. In the middle of the façade is a large rose window that gives light to the choir and the church, and a little higher up, the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs supported by an eagle.

The main nave measures 53 metres long by 10.50 metres wide and the transept is 28.80 metres long by 10.30 metres wide. It is therefore a jewel of flamboyant architecture. The transept, delimited by four columns, resembling palm branches, forms a jewel box for the tomb of the Infante Don Juan.

In the eight chapels we can find sculptures such as the tomb of the Dávila family, the tomb of Prince Don Juan, or the group representing Domingo de Guzmán and Francisco de Asís, the work of Luis Salvador Carmona. Also noteworthy is the Chapel of Cristo de las Angustias or de la Agonía, where the confessional of Saint Teresa is located, and where she had a vision on 15 August 1561. Following the restoration carried out in October 2014 on the Christ of Saint Teresa by the company Édolo Conservación Restauración SL, and after a scientific study by Virtudes Jiménez Torrubia, it has been possible to attribute this carving to the sculptor Gil de Siloé together with his polychromator Diego de la Cruz.

But the main altarpiece, by Pedro Berruguete, is the most important work in the church, together with the tomb of the Infante Don Juan. It is one of the jewels of Pedro Berruguete, who also made part of the main altarpiece of the cathedral of Ávila. It was begun in 1494, a year after the end of the construction of the monastery.

Nineteen paintings are set in this magnificent Gothic-style work, which is 21 metres high. The altarpiece is structured in three parts, which contain five large panels relating to various episodes in the life of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

In the predella we can see from left to right: St. Stephen, St. Augustine, St. John the Evangelist, St. Matthew, St. Jerome and St. Sebastian.

The choir is surprising for its great size and its magnificent choir stalls. It is made up of forty-five chairs in the upper part and thirty-four in the lower part. This set of walnut chairs is in the flamboyant Gothic style. The chairs are in the shape of a "U" and the two end chairs closest to and in front of the High Altar were occupied by the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

It was made by Martín Sánchez de Valladolid, who also made the choir stalls of the Cartuja de Miraflores in Burgos.

The Infante Don Juan was the only son of the Catholic Monarchs, but he died prematurely before reaching the throne. His mother, Isabella, wanted to leave a marble sarcophagus for her son in her will.

The tomb is the work of Domenico Fancelli. It was sculpted in Genoa in 1511-1512 and then placed in the monastery church. Domenico Fancelli was inspired by the tomb of the Catholic Monarchs and by Italian art.

The prince, dressed as a warrior, rests in a serene pose with youthful, beautiful features. The folds of the mantle are of great perfection. At his feet, an inscription commemorates the prince's qualities and laments his premature death. The tomb is adorned with virtues, allegories and saints. In addition, there are gauntlets at the sides of the infant, indicating that he did not die in battle.

Several of the magnificent reliefs were mutilated during the War of Independence in 1809. The silver grille surrounding the tomb was stolen by the French, who also desecrated the remains of Prince John, whose whereabouts remain a mystery.

It is the first and oldest of the monastery's three cloisters. Its small size and lack of ornamentation give it great sobriety.

This cloister is in the Tuscan style. It has two unequal floors, in granite, with 20 arches and 20 columns without a base and with an octagonal section, while on the upper floor, the arches are segmental and have wide circumferences.

The cloister measures 19.40 by 20.90 metres and has two floors. It consists of 18 arches, with two access doors on the inside, and 38 poly-lobed arches on the upper part.

The most notable feature below is the ribbed vault, which is clearly Gothic in style. The ornaments that decorate the vault date almost entirely from 1935. The capitals ornamenting the lower part of the cloister and supporting the pilasters are different. The interior walls reveal a total of seven doors leading to different rooms, all of which have different arches and structures. The cloister also has a secluded corner where the monks washed their hands before going to the refectory.

Upstairs, on the outside of the cloister, the canvases that can be seen are decorated with yokes and arrows, the coat of arms of the Dominicans and the fleur-de-lis. The bindings of the yokes and arrows, as well as the bouquets of flowers, are all different. Branches of half-open pomegranates run along a frieze.

The cloister is very large and bright. It has 40 arches at the bottom and 56 at the top. Compared to the cloister of Silencio, it is almost devoid of ornamentation, except for the balls that surround the lower arches, which is typical of Avila's monuments. Hence its name: Perlado abulense.

In the south wing of this cloister are the classrooms, now remodelled, of the now defunct University of Santo Tomás de Ávila, established here in the mid-16th century and closed in the 19th century, where Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos graduated.

This cloister also houses two museums. On the one hand, the Museum of Oriental Art, which was inaugurated in 1964 and occupies the summer palace of the Catholic Monarchs. It is one of the two museums of Asian art that exist in Spain, together with that of the Augustinian Fathers in Valladolid. It is made up of works from Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and China. This oriental ethnographic collection contains pieces acquired by Dominican missionaries, such as choir books and Philippine ivory.

On the other hand, the Museum of Oriental Sciences, which is annexed to the previous one, dedicated to natural sciences, which formed part of the natural history cabinet of the former General Study of the Order. With specimens from the five continents, vertebrates and invertebrates, it is an excellent collection of zoological specimens.