Church of San Juan de los Reyes - Granada

The parish church of San Juan de los Reyes was built at the beginning of the 16th century on the site of the mosque of the converts or aljama al-Ta`ibin, located in front of one of the towers of the Zirid wall.

However, on January 5, 1492, just three days after the taking of Granada , the mosque was consecrated for Christian worship , making it the first Christian church in the city after the Reconquest. The Muslim building stood until 1517, when it was demolished to build the new Christian temple , which we can see today. Of the old mosque of the converts , only the minaret , built in the 13th century, attached to the church has survived to the present day.

A severe earthquake in 1885 destroyed the original roof of the main chapel and destroyed the paintings painted by Pedro Machuca in 1525 that adorned the altarpiece by Esteban Sánchez.

To the right of the main chapel is the choir and to the left of it is the bell tower, a former Arab minaret.

In 1913 the church passed into the hands of the nuns of the Presentation, who opened two openings from the adjoining building of the new sacristy at the head of the church for use as ambulatory. These works caused leaks that gradually caused serious damage.

Willem Vandenameele