Fontiveros

Fontiveros is a municipality in Spain in the Ávila province. It comprises an area of approximately 40 square kilometres. This small place has sentimental attachment for the Carmelites because our Holy father St. John of the Cross (Juan de Yepes Álvarez) was born in Fontiveros in 1542 on June 24 (St. John Baptist's Day).

His father (Gonzalo de Yepes ) was from the moneyed class and had been a reasonably well-off merchant. He belonged to a wealthy family of silk merchants. However, on a business trip to Fontiveros, he met and fell in love with Catalina Alvarez, a poor seamstress. His family disowned both of them.