5 Euros Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales

The Descalzas Reales in Madrid was founded in 1559 by Juana of Austria, daughter of Charles V, who chose the site of her own birth — a former royal palace — for a Franciscan convent of strict enclosure. It became the preferred retreat for Habsburg women who could not or would not marry, accumulating extraordinary donations of art and relics over two centuries. The collection inside remains largely inaccessible to the public and is considered one of the most intact Habsburg devotional interiors in Europe.

This coin belongs to Spain's ongoing UNESCO World Heritage and historic monuments silver series. The convent itself is not a UNESCO site, which makes its inclusion in the series a curatorial choice worth noting.