Over the July 4th Weekend, I went with family to visit Miami, a place I have often gone to visit as a child to visit family members. Miami is also known in a humorous way as “North Cuba” since it is a city known for its large population of Cuban immigrants. While Miami is a city known as the “Gateway to Latin America”, you may be surprised to know that there is one beautiful location located in nearby North Miami Beach with a very unique story. And the location also apparently pre-dates St. Augustine, which is recognized as the oldest European settlement in today's United States.
The “Ancient Spanish Monastery”, also known as the St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church, was originally built from 1133 – 1141 AD as part of a larger medieval monastery in the village of Sacramenia in Northern Spain. It functioned as a Cistercian monastery for many years. In the 1830s, the monastery was dissolved and its function changed to that of a granary and stable. In 1925, magazine magnate William Randolph Hearst purchased a part of the old monastery and brought it stone-by-stone in more than 11,000 wooden crates by ship to the United States.
Upon arrival of the shipment to the United States, Hearst though was going through financial troubles as a result of the Great Depression and he had to sell the pieces at auction where it was moved to a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York until it was purchased by 2 entrepreneurs to use as a tourist attraction in North Miami Beach at its current site. I heard they ended up spending the equivalent of nearly $20 Million dollars in today’s money to reconstruct the monastery stone-by-stone, a feat that was referred to as a “great jigsaw puzzle”. Eventually, ownership of the monastery passed to the Episcopal Church which still owns the monastery and operates it as an active church with services in both English and Spanish. A medieval European and Hispanic gem found here in the beautiful State of Florida.
If you want a perfect place to take pictures, or to compare how tall us modern humans are in comparison to a medieval king, check out this beautiful place here in North Miami Beach. Come see this authentic piece of European history for yourself.
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Una maravilla del siglo XII que se transportó de España a la Florida del siglo XX y que hoy podemos admirar. Excelente relato y bellas fotografías nos permiten "viajar" en tiempo e imaginación a esa hermosa creación arquitectónica. Que vengan más historias como ésta...
Good job, Chris. Keep on going!
Se trata de un capítulo de la historia americana poco conocido. Estoy seguro que este portal estimulará el estudio del influjo de la cultura hispanica en la Florida. Estados Unidos demuestra una vez más su vocación multicultural, huérfana de recatos y atavismos, con la mirada puesta en el futuro.