The Guadalupe Institute

royal monastery

Copied from Spanish Guadalupe Monastery web site:

The image was given the name of Guadalupe, which means, “hidden river” and in 1340 King Alfonso XI granted some lands to those people who had settled near the hermitage.

King Pedro I, in 1368 gave Guadalupe a free market for 20 days due to the Festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

In 1389 the Hieronymite Fathers took charge of the custody of the Sanctuary until 1835. After the confiscation of the church properties by the government and without the custody of this Religious Order the Monastery underwent many years of gradual decay until in 1908 the Franciscan Order took charge of the place carrying out a remarkable permanent refurbishment in all the areas which has borne good fruit since in 1993 the Monastery was declared Mankind Heritage by the UNESCO. Guadalupe, declared a National Monument, is a welcoming village provided with facilities and services to lodge the thousands of visitors and pilgrims who come all year round to this beautiful Extremadura village with a typical popular architecture around the Monastery. Similarly, Gastronomy and crafts are two great charms in Guadalupe. Inside the Monastery incredible museums are awaiting us. It is worth mentioning the illuminated manuscripts, embroideries, paintings and sculptures. The Monastery itself is one of the most beautiful examples of the Gothic-Mudejar art in Spain. It has beautiful cloisters as well as the sacristy, which lodges a marvelous collection of paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán born in Fuente de Cantos in 1598.