The Monastery

The Royal Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba, located in the municipal district of Alfauir (Valencia), was constructed on the Cotalba rise in privileged natural surroundings, around 5 miles from Gandia. It is private property and has been open to the public since the year 2005, through an agreement with the Valencia Regional Government’s Culture Council.

It is one of the most notable and best preserved monastic constructions in the Valencian Community. This fact is accentuated by the diverse styles found at the complex, as it started out as a primitive medieval Gothic structure in the 14th Century before being fundamentally developed between the 16th and 18th Centuries.

This stunning monument, which in the past belonged to the Hieronymites, was declared a Place of Cultural Interest in 1994. Its construction dates back to 1388 and it contains important Moorish, Gothic, baroque and neoclassical features.

Visitors can admire its entrance patio with a Gothic tower, its orange tree patio, its Moorish cloisters, an old church with a baroque chapel, the old chapterhouse with the image of the Virgin of Health, the olive oil mill with a fresco by Father Borrás (a Last Supper from the Juan de Juanes school), the grain storehouse, the wine press, the stables and the old friars’ kitchen, as well as the impressive romantic gardens and the Gothic aqueduct in the surrounding area.