NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Florida has plenty of ancient structures scattered throughout the region, owing to the long and storied history of the state.
But did you know that the Sunshine State is also home to the oldest building in the entire Western Hemisphere?
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That’s according to the Miami Visitor’s Bureau, which lists it as the Ancient Spanish Monastery’s cloister in North Miami Beach.
Per historians, the monastery was first built in 1141 after around 8 years of construction, meaning it existed close to four centuries before Christopher Columbus ever even arrived in the Americas.
As such, the structure isn’t native to Florida, as it was actually created in northern Spain.
The monastery was named for the Cisterian monk Bernard of Clairvaux after his canonization in 1174, and it acted as a home to monks for the roughly 700 years to follow.
However, a social revolution in the 1830s led to the cloisters being seized. But in 1925, businessman William Randolph Hearst managed to buy the cloisters and monastery’s outbuildings, planning to have them shipped to the U.S.
And ship he did.
It certainly wasn’t an easy process, as the structure had to be taken apart stone by stone (over 35,000 in total), bound in hay for protection, and packed in more than 11,000 wooden crates for transport.
“Unfortunately, while the crates were being shipped to America, a hoof-and-mouth disease epidemic broke out in Spain, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture was concerned that the protective hay carried the disease,” the visitors bureau writes. “To combat that problem, 23 men spent three months opening all of the boxes, sorting through seven tons of nails, burning the hay, and then repacking the stones into the crates.”
After reaching America, the stones weren’t repacked in the right boxes, leading to many being lost. Worse yet, Hearst began to face financial problems associated with the Great Depression, meaning he had to auction off much of the monastery.
The remaining parts that weren’t sold were left in a warehouse, but in 1952, a couple of Miami businessmen bought these remains and moved to turn them into a tourist attraction.
In what was dubbed “the biggest jigsaw puzzle in history” by Time Magazine, the mission to reconstruct the monastery took around 19 months (and close to $20 million). After a couple more sales, it ultimately ended up in the hands of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida.
“We are so fortunate here in Miami to have this architectural treasure that connects us to the history and culture of Spain,” said Father Gregory Mansfield, who curates the Ancient Spanish Monastery Museum & Gardens. “Cistercian monks walked these halls for over 700 years. We always say, ‘If these walls could talk, what stories could they tell us?’”
Nowadays, the monastery serves as a tourist attraction, with a museum at its entrance showcasing historic Spanish artifacts like a hymnarium and armor pieces worn during the Crusades. There’s also a gift shop with souvenirs on offer.
But further in, guests can walk through the church and gardens that make up the monastery, along with a spacious courtyard in the middle.
Medieval statues, carved ceilings, columns, stone arches and stained glass windows adorn the property, which also has sacramental stone tables in the sanctuary at its onsite Episcopal church.
“I think the cloisters and gardens are an oasis of peace and serenity in the midst of the bustle of modern life,” Mansfield stated. “Although the gates open to the busy-ness of Dixie Highway, the cloisters, with its stone walls and pre-Gothic arches, provide a place of calm refuge.”
The monastery is also available for weddings and photo shoots. For more information on pricing and hours of operation, visit the monastery’s website here.
