Temple of the Holy Trinity (finished in 18th century) (since 1978 dedicated to Auditorium).
The 16th-century reliquaries chapel connects Santa Catalina with the baroque sacristy (1638–1647), lavishly decorated and boasting a series of paintings by Zurbarán.īehind the basilica is Camarin de la Virgen, an octagonal baroque structure (1687–1696) with the impressive stuccoed Chamber of the Virgin and nine paintings by Luca Giordano. The square chapel of Santa Catalina is also of the 15th century it is known for a cluster of ornate 17th-century tombs. The monastery, whose architecture evolved throughout many centuries, is still dominated by the templo mayor, or the main church, built by Alfonso XI and his immediate successors in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 20th century, the monastery was revived by the Franciscan Order and Pope Pius XII declared the shrine a "Minor Papal Basilica" in 1955. It remained the most important cloister in Spain until the Confiscation of monasteries in 1835. It was here in Extremadura where Christopher Columbus made his first pilgrimage after discovering America in 1492 and where he first thanked heaven for his discovery.Įven after the monks from Guadalupe founded the famous monastery of Escorial, which was much closer to the royal capital, Madrid, Santa Maria de Guadalupe retained the royal patronage. The monastery has rich associations with the New World, including the Guadeloupe island in the Caribbean.
King Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Sentencia Arbitral de GuadalupeĪt the monastery on 21 April 1486, thus effectively ending the onerous evil customs allowing medieval nobles in Catalonia to maltreat the remensa peasants and tie them to their lands.
Construction works continued under the auspices of the order's first prior, and in 1474 Henry IV of Castile was entombed in Guadalupe, next to his mother. In 1389, the Hieronymite monks took over the monastery and made it their principal house. After gaining the victory, he ascribed it to the Madonna's intercession, declared the church at Guadalupe a royal sanctuary and undertook an extensive rebuilding program. King Alfonso XI, who visited the chapel more than once, invoked Santa Maria de Guadalupe in the Battle of Rio Salado. On the site of his discovery a chapel was built, dedicated under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The monastery had its origins in the late 13th century, when a shepherd from Cáceres, named Gil Cordero, discovered on the bank of the Guadalupe River a statue of the Blessed Virgin, which had been apparently hidden by local inhabitants from Moorish invaders in 714.