Parador de León

León, Spain. Facing the Plaza de San Marcos on the banks of the Bernesga, on the Camino de Santiago.

Parador de LeónLeón, Spain

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Practical information

A Renaissance church, cloister and plateresque façade, one of Spain’s most remarkable Renaissance buildings.
Restaurant, gastronomic space and a café in the glazed central atrium beneath a ceiling by Lucio Muñoz.
A museum of over 500 artworks, from Juan de Juni to Fernando Zóbel and Eduardo Chillida; meeting rooms and garden.
Facing the Plaza de San Marcos on the banks of the Bernesga, on the Camino de Santiago.

12 dates, written by Grand Hotels of the World from the sources below.

July 1152
Infanta Sancha Raimúndez, sister of Alfonso VII, funds a modest hospital outside the walls for pilgrims to Santiago.
1184
San Marcos, main seat of the Order of Santiago in the Kingdom of León, receives the tomb of its first master, Pedro Fernández de Castro.
1514
Ferdinand the Catholic funds a new building; Juan de Orozco, Martín de Villarreal and Juan de Badajoz the Younger take part.
3 June 1541
The church is completed, as a date carved into one of its niches records, and consecrated that year.
1639 – 1643
The writer Francisco de Quevedo is imprisoned here for almost four years.
1711 – 1715
A large extension, including the palace tower, completes the façade.
1845
Its convent life ended in 1836, the building is declared a national monument and becomes the seat of the Museum of León, which opens in 1869.
1936 – 1940
From 25 July 1936 it serves as a Francoist concentration camp holding thousands of Republican prisoners.
1964
The building begins its life as a Parador hotel.
December 2017
The Parador closes for a €15 million restoration by architect Mina Bringas, restoring the original courtyard plan.
3 Dec. 2020
It reopens with a glazed atrium, the restored Lucio Muñoz ceiling and a new museum of over 500 works.
2025
The State tenders the design of a second phase: a new five-star building of 50 rooms, with spa and event halls, linked to the monastery.