Who Is Buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada

The Catholic Monarchs: Ferdinand and Isabella

Isabella of Castile died on 26 November 1504 at Medina del Campo, aged 53. Reddish-chestnut hair, blue eyes. Ferdinand of Aragon remarried in 1506 — a political match, Germaine of Foix, roughly 35 years his junior, a Navarrese-French woman. Yet Ferdinand was buried beside Isabella anyway.

They chose Granada because they took it from the Nasrids in 1492. They wanted to be buried in the proof of the Reconquest.

Joanna and Philip: the second tomb

Their daughter Joanna and her husband Philip lie in the larger mausoleum. Joanna was queen in her own right; her contemporaries called her “the Mad”, though modern historians are sceptical of the label. Philip was Joanna’s consort, known as “the Handsome”. Their son was Charles V, who would rule much of Europe and who is the one who moved the family here and commissioned the Cathedral next door.

Michael, the infant prince

A small coffin holds Michael, the infant son of Joanna and Philip. He lived only briefly. He is sometimes overlooked in the description of the crypt, but he lies there on the stone.

The arithmetic of the monuments

Above ground, you see elaborate sculptural tombs: the Fancelli cenotaph and the Ordóñez mausoleum. Below ground, you see plain lead coffins. The marble is Renaissance art. The lead is what is actually there. That contrast — the monument above, the body below — is the visit’s emotional weight. It is the only moment in Granada where the two registers meet without explanation.

See the visit in order and Isabella’s life and the Braveheart question.

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