Enrique de Trastámara ordered the construction of this monument in the town of Rascafría during the 15th Century. The current benedictine monastery is the result of the regret this monarch felt at having burnt down the Santa María del Paular hermitage during the French campaign and which compelled him to build a monastery in the same place occupied by the primitive hermitage.
Surrounded by the magnificent mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama, El Paular is placed in the unbeatable geographic area of the Valle de Lozoya, an imposing natural amphitheatre at a height of some 1,159 metres.
The cloisters are of an extraordinary beauty, as are the church, Gothic with Baroque elements, and the reredos, the most valuable piece of art in El Paular. Carved from a large piece of wood, some 9 x 12 metres, it fills the entire end of the Presbitery, the interior of which is divided into rectangular spaces and beautiful groin vaults.
Location: Rascafría (Madrid).
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