Among the ecological reserves located inside the Distrito Federal is the forest known as Desierto de los Leones. There stands the former convent of Nuestra Señora del Carmen de los Montes de Santa Fe and its site museum. It is a building of the seventeenth century. Now it is a museum that is open for various exhibitions and cultural activities for people of the region. 

As the Discalced Carmelite friars could not directly hold secular offices, they did so through the León family, hence the name of the place, who for many years represented the friars before the Spanish Crown.

The former convent was conceived as a spiritual retreat in nature. The cells and oratories where they practised reflection are preserved. In the basement there is a hydraulic system. The Chapel of Secrets is a curiosity of the monastic architecture, for it  prevents two people in the same room from seeing each other and only allows them to hear each other.

The site was at times a refuge for assailants, the headquarters for Zapatista troops and a glass factory.