Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe

Few places in Spain pack so much history into a single complex as the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe. Its church, which has held the rank of basilica since Pope Pius XII granted it in 1955, houses the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Extremadura and Queen of the Hispanic World. This makes a visit more than just an artistic outing: it means stepping into one of the great centres of devotion in the Hispanic world.

Anyone wandering through its rooms will soon notice that the building does not follow a single taste. Work began in the 14th century and, over the generations, layers of Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical were added. This coexistence of styles is precisely one of its greatest attractions, and explains why UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List in 1993.

Its origins were more modest. Between 1341 and 1389 the sanctuary operated as a secular priory under royal patronage. In that last year, King John I, the second monarch of the Trastámara dynasty, ordered its conversion into a monastery and handed it over to 32 Hieronymite monks who came from San Bartolomé de Lupiana, in Guadalajara. Thus began the period that would shape the great complex we know today.

The 19th century brought upheaval. With the exclaustration of 1835 the Hieronymites left the house, and the church was reduced to a mere parish under Toledo. Recovery came during the Restoration: in 1879 the complex was declared a National Monument and, later, Alfonso XIII ordered it to be handed over to a community of Observant Franciscans, who have looked after the monastery ever since and keep conventual life alive within its walls.