Conjunto Monumental de la Cartuja

Lonely Planet review

Founded in 1399, the Conjunto Monumental de la Cartuja became the favourite Sevillan lodging place for Columbus, King Felipe II and other luminaries. Columbus' remains lay here from 1509 to 1536. Over the centuries benefactors endowed the monastery with a rich collection of Sevillan art, but in 1836 the monks were expelled during the Disentailment (when church property was auctioned off by the state).

In 1839 the complex was bought by a Liverpudlian, Charles Pickman, who turned it into a porcelain factory, building the tall bottle-shaped kilns that stand incongruously beside the monastery buildings. The porcelain factory functioned until 1982.The whole complex was restored for Expo '92. The entrance is on the monastery's western side on Calle Américo Vespucio. The monastery features a now rather bare 15th-century church; a pretty 15th-century Mudejar cloister; and the Capilla de Santa Ana, which was built as the Columbus family tomb. It also features the Capítulo de Monjes (Chapter House), full of disarmingly realistic 16th-century funerary sculptures of members of the Ribera family, who were among the monastery's chief benefactors.

The Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (Andalucian Contemporary Art Centre) is also here, with a large collection of modern Andalucian art and frequent temporary exhibitions by contemporary artists.