Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos

The monastery is renowned for its paintings by El Greco, who settled in Toledo in the 1570s. Aided by his patron Diego de Castilla, the dean of the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Toledo and executor of Maria de Silva, El Greco received one of his first major commissions in the city to provide the main altarpiece and two lateral altarpieces for the convent's church. Contracts for these works were signed on August 8, 1577. While some component canvases remain in situ, the largest work, The Assumption of the Virgin, is now in the Art Institute of Chicago, and a replica stands in its place on the main altar. Decades later, El Greco provided The Adoration of the Shepherds, intended to hang above his own tomb, which is now in the Museo del Prado.

The sixteenth-century church is noted for its simple forms, featuring a longitudinal plan with a transept and an elongated presbytery with flat apses. The walls are articulated with Ionic pilasters supporting a deep entablature, and a dome on pendentives topped by a lantern crowns the crossing. The convent complex revolves around two patios. The larger patio was completely rebuilt and is surrounded by the refectory on the ground floor and a work and prayer room on the upper floor. The adjacent cloister, known as the Cloister of the Laurels, is entirely constructed of brick and dates to the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. Its lower level features octagonal pillars supporting semi-circular arches, with perfect symmetry at the corners formed by the union of two pillars, while the upper level features ogee arches. The chapter house and the old choir of the community open off this patio, the latter featuring notable geometric tile flooring and a large coffered ceiling combining Renaissance and mudejar forms.

The Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos (the Old) is located in Toledo, Spain. It holds the heritage listing of Bien de Interes Cultural, as published in the Boletin Oficial del Estado on November 14, 1996. The site continues to function as an active Cistercian convent, housing a community of approximately ten nuns who support themselves by producing confectionery. Parts of the church have been converted into a museum that is open to the public, allowing visitors to view the remaining artworks and architectural features.