Monasterio de Santa María de Gratia Dei

Known for the Zaydía Monastery of Valencia, the Royal Cistercian Monastery of Santa María de Gratia Dei, is located on the Vilamarxant road at km.3.5 of Benaguasil, it was founded in 1265 by Queen Teresa Gil de Vidaure, third wife of King Jaime I of Aragon the Conqueror. Although the medieval monastery was originally in the capital of Valencia in Zaydía and was destroyed in 1810 during the War of Independence, it was demolished for the same reason and on the same dates as the Royal Palace of Valencia, a new building was built again. new convent between 1816 and 1827, adding that the monastery was rebuilt again between 1876 and 1879. Finally, after being attacked in the Spanish Civil War and seriously damaged, in addition to suffering great damage in the flood of 1957, in the 1962 the monastery was demolished due to its ruined situation, so the nuns moved on April 8, 1965, to Benaguasil, continuing monastic life with the same original name of “Gratia Dei”.

The places to visit in the monastery are; the inn, the parlors where the community of Cistercian nuns who live there receive visitors, the Church where the remains of Queen Doña Teresa Gil de Vidaure rest, the tabernacle made with an Aztec ceramic calendar with Christian motifs, the exhibition of the little Cristo Recumbent, whose authorship is attributed to Ignacio Vergara (1715-1736) which was restored and exhibited by La Luz of the images, singing books, organ, paintings and various objects and liturgical clothing that were rescued from ancient Zaydía. The cloister and the pine forest where the Via Crucis is located.