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Erected by Juan Guas, the first person to hold the post of Royal Architect, 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. Facade and main entrance

And also 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.

San Juan de los Reyes was a key Monument from the propagandistic architecture of the Battle of Toro. The argument of victory was based on a very intuitive syllogism: If there was a battle at Toro and if Isabella was proclaimed Queen of Castile, so that implied that she had won it. The complex and polemic Battle of Toro was this way presented as a black and white picture, and the entire War reduced to its dynastic dimension ignoring its naval and colonial component.

Jenaro Pérez Villaamil (1807–1854)Interior de la iglesia de San Juan de los Reyes de Toledo, 1839, óleo sobre lienzo, 89 x 114,2 cm

The monastery is an example of Gothic style with Spanish and Flemish influences. The church has a hall floor with a spacious transept to hold future burial tombs.

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.

The sanctuary is polygonal making a tapestry of sculpture of Mudejar style. It is covered with a vault of eight-pointed stars and is supported by tubes.

The arms of the transept are decorated grandiosely, with eagles situated in a lobed arch holding up the coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs.The columns depict images of Franciscan saints, under an exquisite limestone canopy decorated with crests and bands of floral images.

The columns depict images of Fransiscan saints, under an exquisite limestone canopy decorated with crests and bands of floral images.

All of the decoration is repetitive and intended to underline the magnificence of the monarchs. Isabel is symbolized by sheaves of arrows that represent the union of forces and by the letter “Y” of her name, in the spelling of the time.

The two tribunes straddling the nave have a limestone balustrade beautifully crafted in the manner of a silversmith. They carry the initials of the Catholic Monarchs as well as the symbols of the Yoke and Arrows which have been used to extol the virtues of the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, specifically referring to the political and religious unity of the kingdoms of Spain.

The repeated royal coats of arms in the main chapel were created before 1492, since the pomegranate fruit does not appear, which was a symbol of the then conquered kingdom

The Altarpiece is from the Hospital de Santa Cruz

The nave measures approximately 50m in length, and 30m in height, giving off an air of spaciousness and fullness which is further enhanced by the abundant light inundating the nave from 10 windows. The choir is elevated over a dropped arch and is decorated with spectacular perforated cresting. The vaulted ceiling over the choir is cruciform, in the shape of a four pointed star.

side chapel

Fernando is symbolized by the letter “F” and by a yoke with the motto "tanto monta" (it is all the same), which alludes to the myth of the Gordian knot, cut by Alexander the Great when faced with the impossibility of untying it. It is a justification for the means used to obtain the desired ends. Here it indicates the primacy of the reason of the State above other considerations, as considered by Machiavelli. It is no accident that the symbols of each of the consorts begin with the initial of the name of the other.

The entrance was planned for the end of the base of the church and the high choir, leading from the nave to the main altar, following the growth in illumination in the spaces A door whose tympanum is decorated with a painted stone relief of the Veronica accompanied by floral relief typical of the florid gothic style of the time.

Another key space is the square, two-tiered cloister, one of the masterpieces of late gothic art within the Hispanic-Flemish aesthetic, which combines gothic and Mudejar elements, something very typical of Juan Guas. The length of its sides with five spans is exactly half that of the nave of the church. The lower cloister is covered with a German style ribbed vault, without which the ribs would join in the centre, therefore without a key.

The columns, arches, and pilasters are covered in animal and vegetable motifs, many of them also holding a symbolic meaning. However, some may come from the Restoration in the XIX Century. Throughout the cloister there are sculptures of biblical figures on pedestals and under canopies.

Mudejar plasterwork coming from what was the nearby Church of St. Martin. She moved to the courtyard of San Juan de los Reyes when another church was demolished around 1840.

The Christ oif the Good Death (El Cristo de la Buena Muerte) – by M. Guerrero Corrales

The steps that lead to the upper cloister show Renaissance motifs, a half orange vault, masks, pilgrims’ badges, caissons, and examples of the work of Alonso de Covarrubias.

The upper cloister shows a wooden coffered ceiling with typical Mudejar tracery.

Text : InternetPictures: Internet & Carmen MadrugaCopyright: All the images belong to their authorsPresentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda Juan Diego Florez - Plaudite, Sonat Tuba - AlleluiaJuan Diego Florez - Plaudite, Sonat Tuba - Alleluia