The Monastery of Guadalupe, in Extremadura, is a masterpiece of Gothic and Mudejar artistry, and evokes the Reconquest of Spain by the Catholic Monarchs and the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.

You come across it lost in the middle of a sierra landscape at some 650m altitude in the harsh region of Extremadura. Santa Maria de Guadalupe, one of the most imposing fortress monasteries in Spain, was founded in 1340 by King Alfonso XI, after winning a victory over the Moors. The edifice was constructed on a site where, as legend would have it, a sculpture of the Virgin had been found. That was the start of the cult to the Virgin of Guadalupe which was to take a mystical turn when the Catholic Kings offered their devotion to her after the conquest of Granada and when Christopher Columbus, in homage to her, gave the name of Guadalupe to one of the islands he had discovered in the Americas.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, patron of all the different Spains and symbol of all Spanish-speaking peoples, along with the monastery, was to become, from the 14th to the 16th centuries, one of the greatest pilgrimage sites from Spain.

The monastery, which was elevated to the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, offers the visitor an unparalleled profusion of delights. The Mudejar cloister is a marvel with its two tiers of arcs and a 15th century central pavilion. The church and its Gothic-Mudejar façade, the Embroidery Museum, the Sculpture and Paintings Museum (works by Zurbarán and Goya) and especially the Camarín, which houses the statue of the virgin in a profusion of Baroque and Rococo, are a reminder that in those days recourse to divine grace took on a much more profound meaning.