🏟️ Santes Creus

The Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus, is a former Cistercian monastery in the municipality of Aiguamúrcia, Catalonia, Spain. The abbey was erected in the 12th century, in today's municipality of Aiguamúrcia, in the village of Santes Creus, in the province of Tarragona (Catalonia). However, it was in the thirteenth century when Peter III of Aragon expressed his desire to be buried in the monastery and a royal crypt was built for himself and his son, King James II that many of the local nobility established the custom to choose this place for burial. This increased the monastery's wealth and power due to the numerous donations received.