A former Carthusian Monastery located deep in the Sierra Norte de Sevilla, a peaceful natural spot and an ideal place to rest where one can enjoy various cultural and leisure activities.

The area in which the Carthusian Monastery of Cazalla de la Sierra is situated is a place full of history. They monastery is built on a natural plateau surrounded by walls and a 30 metre cliff facing east. It has one of the most beautiful views of the Sierra Morena, especially at sunrise. In the centre of this plateau rises a natural spring that never dries.

Archaeological studies agree that this place has always been used for religious purposes. It was used even before the Phoe3nicians opened the "Ruta de la Plata" (the Silver Road). In the middle of the 8th century, Muslims from North Africa came to this area to work in the nearby mines of "Cerro de Hierro", prospecting for iron ore. Their leader had good reasons to choose this place to build a Mosque, his home, and olive oil and wheat mills. Traces of all these buildings remain today.

Later on, when the Christian kings conquered Sevilla from the Moors, the Mosque was closed and the place was used as a hunting lodge for the kings and a hostel for the pilgrims who travelled on the Silver Road on their way to Santiago de Compostela. In 1418 Fray Lope de Olmedo founded a Jeronimus Monastery in brotherhood with the Monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, near Sevilla. Both Monasteries where closed by the Inquisition as these monks had the audacity to write and publish a Bible. A few years later, in 1476, the place became a Carthusian Monastery. The monks, following tradition, kept the hostel open for the public next to the outdoor chapel known as "Capilla de Peregrino". In the nineteenth century, with the unfortunate law of Mendizabal, a period of decadence began for all of the Spanish Monasteries. This particular one was destroyed and used by the farmers as barns and stables.

In 1973, this property was bought by an Englishman who sold it in 1977 to Carmen Ladrón de Guevara y Bracho, representing a company which has achieved, despite many obstacles and difficulties, the preservation of this historic building and its conversion into a Centre of Contemporary Art and Culture.

Nowadays, La Cartuja offers 4 suits in the Monastery cloister, and 6 double and 2 individual rooms - all with bathroom - in the "Hospedería", also a small house and garden, the Gardener's House, for family groups with children. In the restaurant one can enjoy ecological products: chicken, lamb, eggs and vegetables from the monastery gardens.

This historic place also has exhibition and concert rooms, art gallery and artisan studio. The cultural activities complement leisure as there is also horse riding and a swimming pool.