Real Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales or the monastery of Our Lady of the Consolation as it appears after being translated into English is a monastery situated at the heart of the capital of Spain, Madrid. The 16th-century monastery was built by Jauna de Austria, widow of Prince Juan Manuel of Portugal and sister of King of Spain Filipe II. The interiors of the monastery are adorned with important art works. Part of the monastery is dedicated to museum which forms an important tourist attraction of Spain. The monastery is a building depicting enclosed, religious character. It is said that many ladies belonging to the nobility were shut in this monastery. That is the reason for the monastery to house a lot of paintings, tapestries, and religious images.
At present the place where the monastery is located, there used to be a palace that dates back to the reign of Alfanso. In the 16th-century the palace belonged to Alonso Gutierrez who gave shelter to Emperor Carlos I many a times. As a result, many of the children of Carlos I was born in the palace. Among one of the children was Jauna who later on founded on the ruins of the palace Real Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales. Jauna of Austria got married to Juan Manuel, the prince of Portugal. But with the early death of Juan Manuel, Jauna became a widow with a son Sebastian. She then laid the foundation of the monastery.
During the Spanish Civil War, the monastery together with its rich collection though was protected from the enemies; the king could not prevent the monastery from bombardment. During the same war year restoration of the monastery was made as a result of which the roofing of the monastery was changed from tile roofing to slate roofing.
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