Monasterio de El Parral
Monasterio de El Parral features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Segovia. Give it roughly ~30 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Segovia Segovia guide
About Monasterio de El Parral
A jewel of Isabelline Gothic in the river valley, founded by a future king who hid the project under his favourite's name, still a living, enclosed monastery nearly 600 years on.
The Monastery of Santa María del Parral, on the far side of the Eresma valley below the old town, is a Hieronymite monastery founded in 1447 by the future King Enrique IV, then still a prince. Because it was thought improper for a prince to found such buildings, it was nominally put in the name of his favourite, the marquis Juan Pacheco, often wrongly remembered as its founder. Built through the later 15th century in the ornate Isabelline Gothic style, with a hand from the master Juan Guas, its church holds a great gilded altarpiece and the alabaster tombs of Pacheco and his wife. The community was dissolved in the 1835 confiscations and the buildings decayed, until Hieronymite monks returned in 1925. Declared a national monument in 1914, it remains an enclosed working monastery within the UNESCO-listed old town of Segovia.
Did you know? The future King Enrique IV founded El Parral in 1447 but, as it was thought too grand a project for a mere prince, put it on paper under his favourite Juan Pacheco, who is still often wrongly called its founder.
How long is a visit to Monasterio de El Parral?
Set aside roughly ~30 min for Monasterio de El Parral. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Monasterio de El Parral worth your time?
Monasterio de El Parral is among the 15 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Segovia, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Segovia
Hear the story of Monasterio de El Parral
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