How an Ancient Spanish Monastery Ended Up in North Miami

The structure was actually built in northern Spain and existed there nearly eight centuries until 1925. That’s when publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst acquired the cloisters and the monastery’s outbuildings, had them disassembled stone by stone and shipped to the U.S.

The crates sat in a Brooklyn warehouse until after Hearst’s death in 1952 when two entrepreneurs decided to purchase the monastery and have it reassembled as a South Florida tourist attraction.

Today, the property is owned by the Episcopal Church, which holds weekly services on-site. The cloisters, gardens and chapel are open to the public for a small donation.