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Constructed in 1389 to commemorate the miraculous appearance of the Virgin the previous year, the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe sits at an altitude of 660 meters in the Villuerca Mountains of southwestern central Spain. (...)

Constructed in 1389 to commemorate the miraculous appearance of the Virgin the previous year, the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe sits at an altitude of 660 meters in the Villuerca Mountains of southwestern central Spain. With its main architectural features—the defensive walls, round towers, courtyards, and Gothic church—Guadalupe enjoyed prominence as the principal monastic institution under the patronage of the several Spanish kings, who enriched its collections with lavish gifts, including a new chancel with high altar and royal tombs, the reliquary chapel, and a magnificent new sacristy decorated with Francisco de Zurbarán's greatest paintings. Built by Arab craftsmen using their traditional materials of brick, colored stucco and tile, the cloister of Guadalupe makes use of highly elaborate arches borrowed from Islamic architecture and integrated into a Gothic scheme. The garden is marked by a blend of Christian and Islamic iconography.

The monastery's royal patronage ended after its abandonment during the Napoleonic occupation of Spain and a lack of maintenance throughout the 19th century hastened its deterioration.