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San Juan de los Reyes Monastery

The monastery, built between 1477 and 1504 under the patronage of the Catholic Monarchs, has a single-nave church with chapels between the buttresses and a raised choir at the west end. At the east end, an octagonal lantern on squinches with tracery and the emblem of the Catholic Monarchs crowns the space conceived as a royal burial place. A band with a commemorative inscription runs around the interior, and the altarpiece, by Francisco de Comontes and brought from the Hospital de Santa Cruz, shows scenes of the Passion. The cloister, with a garden and central well, combines rib vaults, mixtilinear ogee arches and, on the upper floor, a Mudéjar wooden roof bearing the motto «tanto monta». Outside, the granite façade is covered with the chains and shackles of Christian captives freed during the Reconquista.

Things to do at San Juan de los Reyes Monastery: 5 missions

• Take in Saint Helena with the Miracles of the CrossLook at the scene of St Helena with the miracles of the Cross.
• Walk through the cloisterWalk through the cloister, made up of rib vaults without a central keystone and a mixtilinear ogee arch in the second-floor gallery.
• See the church altarpieceSee the church's altarpiece, made by Francisco de Comontes for the Hospital of Santa Cruz.
• Take in the scene of Jesus on the Way to CalvaryLook at the scene of Jesus on the way to Calvary on the altarpiece.
• Take in the scene of The Descent from the CrossLook at the Descent from the Cross scene on the altarpiece.

Near San Juan de los Reyes Monastery

Source: sanjuandelosreyes.org