Monastery of Santo Dpmingo - Cadiz - Andalusia

After several attempts, the Dominican Order founded the first monastery in Cádiz in 1639 and the site chosen was known as "del Boquete" , where in 1596 the Anglo-Dutch invaders had thrown to the ground the image of the Mother of God of the Rosary .

The construction of this monastic complex began in 1645 with the financial support of the Basque merchant Domingo de Munárriz.

The monastery buildings are organized around a baroque cloister from 1660 and are divided into four parts , each with three departments. The first with Tuscan columns in white marble, the second articulated by pilasters between which open the balconies crowned with vaulted pediments, and the last with architraves and recessed arches at the end. The set is completed by four fountains in white marble with the coats of arms of the Dominicans and Franciscans.

The church, Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, Patroness of Cadiz, was completed in 1666 and partially rebuilt after the 1936 fire . It has a Latin cross plan and three naves, the largest of which is divided into five transoms by Tuscan columns, between which there are semicircular arches topped by steps in the form of a balcony.

The main altarpiece is an important Genoese piece of colored marble dating from 1691 and is considered one of the finest examples of Italian Baroque altarpieces in Spain. It is divided into three bands separated by twisted columns, at the center of which is the image of Our Lady of the Rosary, replacing the original lost in the 1936 fire.

Inside the church is the Chapel of the Tabernacle, where a small polychrome statue of Our Lady of the Rosary, known as the Galleon, is venerated, created in 1943 by Juan Luis Vasallo in memory of the statue lost in 1936.

Willem Vandenameele