About this place
Adjoining the cathedral, the Capilla Real, the Royal Chapel, is one of the most historically significant buildings in all of Spain, built in the ornate late-Gothic Isabelline style between 1505 and 1517 as the final resting place of the Catholic Monarchs. Here, beneath magnificent marble tombs, lie Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, whose marriage united the crowns of Spain, who completed the reconquest by taking Granada in 1492, who expelled the Jews, and who in that same momentous year financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus. Their actual lead coffins can be seen in the crypt below. Beside them rest their daughter Joanna, known as Joanna the Mad, and her husband Philip the Handsome. The chapel's sacristy preserves an extraordinary treasure: Queen Isabella's personal collection of Flemish and Italian paintings, along with her crown and sceptre and Ferdinand's sword.
Key facts
- 1492 year — Ferdinand and Isabella, buried here, conquered Granada and funded Columbus this year
- 1517 year — The late-Gothic royal chapel was completed to hold their tombs
- 4 monarchs — The tombs hold the Catholic Monarchs, their daughter Joanna and Philip the Handsome
📍 Calle Oficios, 18001, Granada