{"id":347071,"date":"2026-07-21T09:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/347071\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T09:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:36:22","slug":"biggest-jigsaw-puzzle-in-history-this-is-floridas-most-ancient-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/347071\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Biggest jigsaw puzzle in history:\u2019 This is Florida\u2019s most ancient building"},"content":{"rendered":"

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Florida has plenty of ancient structures<\/a> scattered throughout the region, owing to the long and storied history<\/a> of the state. <\/p>\n

But did you know that the Sunshine State is also home to the oldest building in the entire Western Hemisphere?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to the Miami Visitor\u2019s Bureau<\/a>, which lists it as the Ancient Spanish Monastery\u2019s cloister in North Miami Beach.<\/p>\n

Gardens at the Ancient Spanish Monastery in North Miami Beach (Florida State Archives (Public Domain))<\/p>\n

Per historians, the monastery was first built in 1141 after around 8 years of construction, meaning it existed close to four centuries before Christopher Columbus ever even arrived in the Americas.<\/p>\n

As such, the structure isn\u2019t native to Florida, as it was actually created in northern Spain.<\/p>\n

The monastery was named for the Cisterian monk Bernard of Clairvaux after his canonization in 1174, and it acted as a home to monks for the roughly 700 years to follow.<\/p>\n

Cloister well at the Ancient Spanish Monastery, where monks drew their water for cooking and daily ablutions (Florida State Archives (Public Domain))<\/p>\n

However, a social revolution in the 1830s led to the cloisters being seized. But in 1925, businessman William Randolph Hearst managed to buy the cloisters and monastery\u2019s outbuildings, planning to have them shipped to the U.S.<\/p>\n

And ship he did.<\/p>\n

It certainly wasn\u2019t an easy process, as the structure had to be taken apart stone by stone (over 35,000 in total), bound in hay for protection, and packed in more than 11,000 wooden crates for transport.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, while the crates were being shipped to America, a hoof-and-mouth disease epidemic broke out in Spain, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture was concerned that the protective hay carried the disease,\u201d the visitors bureau writes. \u201cTo combat that problem, 23 men spent three months opening all of the boxes, sorting through seven tons of nails, burning the hay, and then repacking the stones into the crates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gardens at the Ancient Spanish Monastery, surrounded by the arches of the monastery’s loggia (Florida State Archives (Public Domain))<\/p>\n

After reaching America, the stones weren\u2019t repacked in the right boxes, leading to many being lost. Worse yet, Hearst began to face financial problems associated with the Great Depression, meaning he had to auction off much of the monastery.<\/p>\n

The remaining parts that weren\u2019t sold were left in a warehouse, but in 1952, a couple of Miami businessmen bought these remains and moved to turn them into a tourist attraction.<\/p>\n

In what was dubbed \u201cthe biggest jigsaw puzzle in history\u201d by Time Magazine, the mission to reconstruct the monastery took around 19 months (and close to $20 million). After a couple more sales, it ultimately ended up in the hands of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so fortunate here in Miami to have this architectural treasure that connects us to the history and culture of Spain,\u201d said Father Gregory Mansfield, who curates the Ancient Spanish Monastery Museum & Gardens. \u201cCistercian monks walked these halls for over 700 years. We always say, \u2018If these walls could talk, what stories could they tell us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardens looking toward the cloisters at the Ancient Spanish Monastery, with the loggia on the right (Florida State Archives (Public Domain))<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the monastery serves as a tourist attraction, with a museum at its entrance showcasing historic Spanish artifacts like a hymnarium and armor pieces worn during the Crusades. There\u2019s also a gift shop with souvenirs on offer.<\/p>\n

But further in, guests can walk through the church and gardens that make up the monastery, along with a spacious courtyard in the middle.<\/p>\n

Medieval statues, carved ceilings, columns, stone arches and stained glass windows adorn the property, which also has sacramental stone tables in the sanctuary at its onsite Episcopal church.<\/p>\n

Courtyard of the St. Bernard de Clairvaux Episcopal Church (the Ancient Spanish Monastery) at 16711 West Dixie Highway in North Miami Beach (Florida State Archives (Public Domain))<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the cloisters and gardens are an oasis of peace and serenity in the midst of the bustle of modern life,\u201d Mansfield stated. \u201cAlthough the gates open to the busy-ness of Dixie Highway, the cloisters, with its stone walls and pre-Gothic arches, provide a place of calm refuge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The monastery is also available for weddings and photo shoots. For more information on pricing and hours of operation, visit the monastery\u2019s website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Florida has plenty of ancient structures scattered throughout the region, owing to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[104,6919,28,4566,30,29,2457,123,373,13318],"class_list":["post-347071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-florida","tag-florida-fables","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-history","tag-miami","tag-miami-dade-county","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}