Seven years after he was elected prior of the convent of Scala Caeli in the mountains of Cordova, which after eight years he succeeded in restoring from its ruinous state, and there he began his work as a zealous reformer.
Another important tract is the De Principiis atque Originibus secundum Fabulas Cupidinis et Caeli, where, under the disguise of two old mythological stories, he (in the manner of the Sapientia Veterum) finds the deepest truths concealed.
It possesses an old town hall dating from 1566, a hospital, a lunatic asylum, an orphanage, and a large parish church rebuilt in 1756; but the chief interest centres in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, built in 1337, which attracts thousands of pilgrims to its Porta Caeli or Gaadenpforte (Gate of Mercy) opened annually on Michaelmas eve and closed again on the 4th of October.