Supposedly he was spurred to this project due to his plundering of a chartreuse during a campaign in France.

Multiple architects contributed to the complex, including Juan Guas, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, Francisco Hurtado and Vicente Acero.

[4] The spectacular late-Baroque decorations of the chapel of the sacristy and its Transparente (mid-18th century) by Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo and containing polychromatic marbles, solomonic columns, and gilded leafwork, contrast with the rocky serene simpleness of the cloisters.

There is a large 15th-century carved wood reredos in excellent condition, and a fine ironwork screen segregating the monastic choir from the nave.

Missing from the site are 52 paintings by Vincenzo Carducci on the life of St. Bruno and other devotional incidents.