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Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera

The Charterhouse of Santa María de la Defensión is on the Jerez to Algeciras road, at kilometre 5. It arose after the Battle of the Defensión in 1369, attributed to the Virgin; the small shrine built then is today the Chapel of Caminantes, in the atrium. In 1474 the Jerez knight Álvaro Oberto de Valeto financed the monastery and in 1476 the first Carthusians arrived from Seville. The monks left in 1835 with the confiscation of Church property, returned in 1948 and left the monastery for good in 2001; the Sisters of Bethlehem then lived here until March 2024. It blends Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, and preserves works by Zurbarán, Martínez Montañés, José de Arce, Pedro Roldán and Esteve Bonet. The tour includes the church, the choir of the fathers, the high altar, the small cloister and the cloister of the fathers with its cells. In 1856 it became the first monument in the province of Cádiz to be declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument.

Things to do at Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera: 4 missions

• Observe the atrium portal and the church portalStop in front of the monument's portal and the church portal, in the atrium, and look at their composition and sculptural details.
• See the high altar and the choir of the fathersEnter the church and find the choir of the fathers and the high altar, and compare the three areas of the church: monks, lay brothers and the faithful.
• Discover the Carthusian cells of the cloister of the fathersWalk through the cloister of the fathers and look for the cells, identified by letters from A to Z. Enter the Carthusian cell open to visitors and see how it is laid out.
• Find the Chapel of Caminantes and the Cross of the DefensiónIn the atrium, find the Cross of the Defensión, or of Caminantes, and the Chapel of Caminantes, the old shrine of the 1369 battle.

Near Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera

Source: Web oficial - Cartuja de Jerez