Legend has it that in Moorish times, caves were dug in the area to extract clay to make pots. In 1248, an image of the Virgin was found, named Virgen de la Cuevas (Virgin of the Caves), and a shrine was built.
In 1399 Franciscans built a monastery here, and later it was home to cloistered Carthusian monks. Fashionable with the rich and powerful of Spain, La Cartuja was where Christopher Columbus stayed while planning his second voyage, one of the reasons why this site – the island of La Cartuja, including the then-ruined monastery - was chosen for Seville’s Expo 92, on the 500th anniversary of his first voyage. Columbus’ remains were buried in the church for 30 years.
During the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, the monks were expelled and La Cartuja was used as a barracks by the French Emperor’s troops, who damaged the buildings. They finally left in 1812, and the monks came back until the closing and confiscation of many religious properties was ordered in the 1830s.