Royal Chapel of Granada

The Royal Chapel of Granada (Spanish: Capilla Real de Granada) is an Isabelline style building in Granada, Spain. Constructed between 1505 and 1517, it was originally integrated in the complex of the neighbouring Granada Cathedral. It is the burial place of the Spanish monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand, the Catholic Monarchs. Apart from these historical links, this building also contains a gallery of artworks and other items associated with Queen Isabella.

The Nasrid dynasty of Granada was the last Moorish dominion of Al-Andalus to fall in the Reconquista (Reconquest). This occurred in 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, with the conquest of the city being an important stage of their combined reign. On September 13, 1504, they declared that they wanted their remains to be taken to Granada, and to this effect a royal charter was issued at Medina del Campo, Castile-León, for the Royal Chapel to be built. The charter states:

First we ordain that in the Cathedral of the city of Granada it made an honest chapel in which are, when the will of Our Lord be, our bodies buried. This chapel will be called Of the Kings under the invocation of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist.

The Royal Chapel was built between 1505 and 1517 in Isabelline Gothic style and dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, with the construction under the direction of Enrique Egas in Gothic style. Juan Gil de Hontañón, Juan de Badajoz the Elder and Lorenzo Vázquez de Segovia were also involved in the construction project.

Construction occurred during the lifetime of King Ferdinand, and the Chapel flourished under his successor Emperor Charles V, with the church decorated, and the supporting institution being enhanced. The Capilla Real was the mausoleum of the Spanish royal family until the founding of El Escorial by Philip II.

The Royal Chapel became one of the top tourist attractions in Granada in the latter half of the twentieth century.^{[citation needed]} Recently there has been a restoration with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía and the Foundation Caja Madrid, along with other public and private contributions.

The interior of the chapel follows the same model as the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo. It has four side chapels, creating the form of a Latin cross and a nave with a Gothic ribbed vault. The choir has a centered arch down to its base, and a crypt.

The passage to the presbytery creates a luminous effect to symbolize the sun and the light of justice (in an Albertian, Neo-Platonic sense). There is a hierarchy of the transept dedicated to mausoleum, which is separated by a monumental decorated grille forged by Bartolomé Ordoñez.