Cloister Angles

by Joan Carroll

Title

Cloister Angles

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Art

Description

In a short visit to Granada Spain, I ran across a tourist office selling a ticket to see five religious sites in Granada for a discounted price. I might not have chosen or even discovered the Monastery of Saint Jerome (Monasterio de San Jeronimo) otherwise. The Monastery of St. Jerome is a Roman Catholic church and Hieronymite monastery. When you enter the visitors area you can purchase an excellent brochure in several languages explaining all the areas that you will visit. Of all the places I visited in Granada, this had the most informative information available to an English-speaking visitor. First you enter the cloister, filled with orange trees, just as in the 16th century. From the noise of the street, you enter a this wonderfully quiet and peaceful place. The sun was hot and bright and the air was still. But in the midst of the orange trees and in the shade of the cloister it was a welcome haven! The monastery was originally founded by the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in Santa Fe outside the city of Granada, during the siege of the latter city, the last stage of the Reconquista. The encampment was so plagued with insects that the founders "did not look like Monks of St Jerome, but rather like those of St Lazarus, so badly were they stung and bitten." Thus, the construction of the current buildings in Granada properly began in 1504, and the monastery relocated at that time. Although occupied again today by the same order of monks as at the time of its founding, the monastery has undergone many vicissitudes, including invasion by the French in the Napoleonic era during the Peninsular War. The Hieronymites were expelled and the monastery eventually became a near-ruin. The State undertook a restoration of the building in 1916-1920. Further restorations took place over the succeeding decades. On your way out, don't forget to buy some of the "dulces" baked by the nuns of St Jerome! Of course, I bought way too much for one person to eat and ended up having to give some away to the kind people running my B&B!

FEATURED PHOTO, Deconstructions -- Parts of the Whole group, 3/6/16

FEATURED PHOTO, The 200 Club - photos with over 200 views up to 500 group, 1/16/16

FEATURED PHOTO, Exploration Photography group, 1/2/16

Uploaded

December 28th, 2015

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