The Monastery of Saint John of
the Kings is a historic monastery in Toledo, Spain, built by the
Catholic Monarchs (1477–1504) 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.
Toledo was chosen as the site for building the
monastery due to its central geographic location and because it had
been the capital of the ancient Visigoth kingdom, symbolically
reconstituted by Isabella and Ferdinand with the restoration of the
lost unity of Spain, through the union of Castile with Aragon.
The monastery is an example of Gothic style with
Spanish and Flemish influences. Its cloister has a small garden. Its
upper cloisters, first completed in 1526 and restored in the 19th
century, contain Mudéjar ornamentation,
Photos from Summer 2015
