The "F" in the corner stands for "Ferdinand."
The yoke carving symbols "Y" which
was the initial letter of "Isabella"
back in the day. It is to show the
two were close to each other.
And over the right side of the entrance is
a "Y" for Isabella, while the arrows
are "flecha" in Spanish, with the "f"
representing "Ferdinand."
These chains have an unfortunate past.
And I made an unfortunate, yet
still funny, joke.
Cardinal Cisneros: the power behind the throne.
He was tight with the Queen and King,
former Governor of the Kingdom of Castille,
and served as Grand Inquisitor during that
thing that no one expected (SNL
reference there).
Not every craftsman was happy
with their boss. Here is a
depiction of a Franciscan
monk as a monkey sitting
on a toilet. Apparently
the carvings were flush with
inside jokes and jabs.
Most of the carvings are legit.
An eagle with a royal
coat of arms.
Another eagle, ready for his close-up.
A monkey gargoyle.
These lions project power.
The upper level of the cloisters.
The cloisters.
A double eagle.
Queen Isabella. Not as
pretty as in the movies.
This eagle and coat of arms adorns what
was once part of the monastery, but now
is an art school.
We have become big fans of Rick Steves, the American who churns out PBS shows and travel guides on Europe. He oddly gives the Monastery short shrift, but we are big fans of it. I'm posting a lot of pictures, but there are many interesting ones I'm NOT including. Since you can't rely on Rick for good insight into the monastery, hire Javi for a really good in-depth tour of it.
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