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Where is St. John of the Cross buried?

By Andrew McGilly, Founder of Bold Pilgrim · Updated 2026-10-08

Times, dates and prices on this page were checked against the official source on 2026-10-08 (Junta de Castilla y León tourism portal: Convento de San Juan de la Cruz, Segovia (Spanish)). They change; confirm before you travel. Reviewed quarterly.

St. John of the Cross is entombed in Segovia, Spain, in the church of the Discalced Carmelite friars' convent, which he himself founded in 1588. His own Order names Segovia as the place where his tomb is. He died at Úbeda in Andalusia on the night of December 13 to 14, 1591; Segovia's tourism office records that his remains were brought to Segovia in 1593, and the friars at Úbeda also keep relics of the saint. The tomb stands in a side chapel of the church, beside the Shrine of La Fuencisla. The tourism office dates the present monument to 1926 and says the remains rest in a chest above its altar.

John was born in 1542 at Fontiveros, near Ávila, met St. Teresa at Medina del Campo in 1567 and joined her reform of Carmel; the first house of Discalced friars opened at Duruelo in 1568. Imprisoned at Toledo in 1577, he escaped the following August, having composed the Spiritual Canticle there. He was canonized in 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926. St. John Paul II came to pray at the tomb in 1982.

Segovia's tourism office notes that visitors climb a steep stairway to the church, and that the convent garden keeps the cave where the saint withdrew to pray. The Order marked the anniversaries of his canonization and his doctorate with a jubilee year opened at the tomb in December 2025; jubilee observances are time-limited, so check what applies on your dates.

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Sources & further readingJunta de Castilla y León tourism portal: Convento de San Juan de la Cruz, Segovia (Spanish)Benedict XVI, General Audience on St. John of the Cross (16 February 2011)St. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Maestro en la fe, on the fourth centenary of the death of St. John of the Cross (14 December 1990; Spanish text)St. John Paul II, Celebration of the Word in honor of St. John of the Cross, Segovia (4 November 1982; Spanish text)Discalced Carmelites, General Curia: Communicationes n. 416 (December 2025; Spanish)Discalced Carmelites, Iberian Province: Provincial's letter on the jubilee of St. John of the Cross (30 November 2025; Spanish)Turismo de Segovia (city tourism office): San Juan de la Cruz en Segovia (2026 leaflet; Spanish)Turismo de Segovia (city tourism office): Ruta San Juan de la Cruz (2015; Spanish)EWTN News: Discalced Carmelites prepare to celebrate jubilee year of St. John of the Cross (4 December 2025)Spain.info (official tourism portal of Spain): Monastery of San Juan de la Cruz, Discalced Carmelite Fathers, Segovia

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Where is St. John of the Cross buried?

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