by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

The Royal Chapel of Granada in Granada, now the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain, was commissioned by husband and wife, Ferdinand II, King of Aragon (reigned 1479 – 1516) and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León (reigned 1474 – 1504). On September 13, 1504, Ferdinand and Isabella declared they wanted to be buried in Granada and issued a Royal Decree stating that a Royal Chapel should be built.

The Royal Decree stated:

“Because it is a reasonable issue for any Catholic Christian and especially for Kings and Princes – who have to set a good example for the rest of the people – that, apart from behaving as good as possible during their lives, they have to provide how to say prayers and sacrifices for their souls after their deaths, particularly in the chapels where they are buried so that our Lord has mercy on them and forgives their sins. Therefore, wishing this, we agree to choose the Church and the Chapel where our bodies shall be buried, when it pleases Our Lord to call us. Masses, sacrifices, anniversaries, and other divine offices and prayers will be said in the chosen Chapel. First of all, we ordain that in the Cathedral Church of Our Lady Mary of O in the city of Granada a worthy Chapel shall be built. In this chapel shall be placed the Holy Sacrament of the Cathedral, before which shall burn perpetually, day and night, a wax candle weighing six pounds and two oil lamps.”

Spanish monarchs and their families before Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León, were buried in various cities across the Iberian Peninsula. Starting with King Carlos I of Spain (also Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spanish monarchs and their families have been buried in the royal crypt at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial about 28 miles/45 kilometers from Madrid, Spain.

The building of the Royal Chapel of Granada was part of Ferdinand and Isabella’s plan to establish a permanent royal seat in Granada after the 1492 conquest of the city, which ended Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula. The Royal Chapel of Granada is the burial site of Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León, and several other family members.

Royal Chapel of Granada in 1850, drawing by Francesc Xavier Parcerisa; Credit – Wikipedia

The Royal Chapel of Granada was constructed between 1505 and 1517. Originally integrated into the complex of the neighboring Granada Cathedral, the chapel was built in the Isabelline Gothic style, the dominant architectural style during the reign of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. However, the Granada Cathedral and the Royal Chapel of Granada are separate buildings today.

Architect and sculptor Enrique Egas (link in Spanish) led the construction project, assisted by master builder and mason Juan Gil de Hontañón. Architects and builders Juan de Badajoz the Elder and Lorenzo Vázquez de Segovia were also involved in the construction project.

The Royal Chapel of Granada 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. In the center of the transept are the tombs of Isabella and Ferdinand by Italian sculptor Domenico Fancelli and the tombs of their daughter Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy, by Spanish sculptor Bartolomé Ordóñez. The tombs are set high, almost at the height of the altar, and this symbolizes the closeness of Ferdinand and Isabella and Juana and Philip to God. The tombs are cenotaphs, empty tombs. The coffins rest in the crypt.

Burials

Miguel da Paz, Hereditary Prince of Portugal and Prince of Asturias and Girona (1498 – 1500), was the only child of Ferdinand and Isabella’s eldest child, Isabella of Aragon, Princess of Asturias and King Manuel I of Portugal. His mother died delivering him, and he died shortly before his second birthday. He is buried in the crypt of the Royal Chapel of Granada. If Miguel de Paz had lived, most likely he would have ruled over a united Spain and Portugal. When Queen Isabella of Castile died in 1504, she requested that the body of her daughter Isabella be moved to rest by her side in Granada, but this was never done.

Isabella I, Queen of Castile (1451 – 1504), wife of Ferdinand II, King of Aragon. In her will, Isabella stated that she “wanted and commanded” that if Ferdinand “chooses to be buried in any church or monastery of any other part or place of my kingdoms, that my body be moved there and buried together.” On November 26, 1504, Isabella died at the age of 53 at the Royal Palace in Medina del Campo, Valladolid, Kingdom of Castile, now in Spain. Per her wishes, Isabella was buried at the Monastery of San Francisco in the Alhambra royal complex in Granada. Her remains were later transferred to the Royal Chapel of Granada, which was built after her death, and where Ferdinand II was buried.

Ferdinand II, King of Aragon (1452 – 1516), husband of Isabella I, Queen of Castile, died on January 23, 1516, at the age of 63 and was buried next to his first wife Isabella at the Royal Chapel of Granada, as Isabella requested.

Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy, husband of Juana I, co-monarch with Juana as King Felipe I of Castile and León, died on September 25, 1506, aged 28, at Casa del Cordón in Burgos, Castile, apparently of typhoid fever, although an assassination by poisoning was rumored at the time. Juana refused to allow Philip’s body to be buried or to be parted from her for quite a while. Eventually, Philip was buried at the Royal Chapel of Granada.

Juana I, Queen of Castile and León, Queen of Aragon, daughter and successor of Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile, died on April 12, 1555, aged 75, at the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas, Castile, now in Spain. She was buried with her parents and husband at the Royal Chapel of Granada.

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Works Cited

• Bien de Interés Cultural de Granada, España. (2007). Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capilla_Real_de_Granada
• Flantzer, Susan. Spanish Royal Burials: House of Trastámara – Family of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/spanish-royal-burial-sites/spanish-royal-burials-house-of-trastamara-family-of-ferdinand-ii-of-aragon-and-isabella-i-of-castile/
• Royal Chapel of Granada. (2020). Capillarealgranada.com. https://capillarealgranada.com/en/
• Wikipedia Contributors. (2024). Royal Chapel of Granada. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.