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The Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes was founded by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile to commemorate both the birth of their son, Prince John, and their victory at the Battle of Toro (1476) over the army of Afonso V of Portugal.

The Franciscan cord runs along the entire facade, it being the order that occupies the building. The sanctuary is polygonal with buttresses crowned with needles or pinnacles, decorated with royal arms and life-sized heralds, showing the Catholic Monarchs shield shining among their clothing.

Above the side door there is an outstanding Stations of the Cross, showing the Virgin and Saint John, but not Christ. He is symbolized by the pelican placed on the cross, in accordance with the medieval belief that the bird was able to feed its young with its own blood, this being a type of precursor of the Eucharist.

The cimborioabove the transeptis octagonal, crowned by cresting and decorated with more gothic pinnacles.

The church is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, patron saint of King Juan II, for use by Franciscan friars

The monastery, an example of Gothic style with Spanish and Flemish influences was restored to the Franciscan order in 1954.

The monastery's construction began in 1477 following plans drawn by architect Juan Guas, and was finished in 1504, the lower cloisters having been completed on 25thNovember 1504, the day Isabel la Catolica died.

In 1809 the monastery was badly damaged by Napoleon's troops during their occupation of Toledo. A devastating fire destroyed part of the cloisters and one of the domes of the church.

The seizure and pillaging of ecclesiastical assets, the expulsion of the then current incumbents of the monastery, the Franciscans who had lived in the monastery since the end of the XV century (they had had a presence in Toledo since 1219), together these events led to an ever greater deterioration of the monastery.

The church was built to hold the “dynastic mausoleum” of queen Isabel the Catholic, dedicated to saint John the Evangelist, of whom the queen was a devout admirer. The use of the building dictated its type of simulated bier, surrounded by pinnacles in the form of wax candles.

The chains hanging on the exterior walls of the church are especially noteworthy. They refer to the prisoners freed during the long Granada campaign and were hung in 1494, as a votive offering and a symbol of the triumph of Christian faith.

The chains of freed Christian prisoners ornament the monastery's granite exterior facade, as per the Queen's order of 1494.

Restoration work which began in 1883 was directed by the architect Arturo Mélida and was not completed until 1967. The Franciscan Order did not return to the monastery until 1954, and indeed returned to a much smaller structure built specifically to house the fraternity.

Sculpture in front of Monastery of Saint John of the Kings

Text : InternetPictures: Internet & Carmen MadrugaCopyright: All the images belong to their authorsPresentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

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