Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, A serene haven of exquisite Gothic artistry

Calle Reyes Católicos, 17, Toledo

A very beautiful monastery in the ancient city of Toledo

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Introduction

Royal Monastery of San Juan, also known as the Royal Monastery of Saint John, is a historic Catholic Franciscan monastery in Toledo, Spain. The monastery was built by the Aragonese king and Castilian queen in 1477 to celebrate the birth of their son, Prince Juan, and the victory over the Portuguese army in 1476, which paved the way for the merger of the two countries. The monastery was completed in 1504 and is a Gothic building with a 50m-long and 30m-high Latin cross plan church decorated with the coat of arms of the royal couple. The double-decker cloister in the monastery is a masterpiece by Juan Guas, with the lower floor in late Gothic style and the upper floor decorated with Mudéjar, making it one of the most impressive buildings in Toledo. The church in the monastery is magnificent, and the Islamic carvings in the cloister are exquisitely beautiful, both of which are worth special attention. The shackles on the outer wall of the monastery symbolize the importance of religious freedom to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. The monastery was severely damaged during the occupation of Toledo by Napoleon's army in 1809. It was closed in 1835, restored in 1967 after starting in 1883, and returned to the Franciscan order in 1954. Visitors can enjoy plants such as orange trees in the courtyard, and there is a large net in the sky, presumably to prevent birds from flying in. You can climb the stairs to the second floor to admire the typical Islamic-style geometric and plant patterns. Although it was planned to bury King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I in this monastery, they chose to be buried in Granada after the conquest of Granada in 1492.