Santa Maria de Ovila is a former Cistercian monastery built in Spain beginning in 1181 on the Tagus River near Trillo, Guadalajara, about 90 miles (140 km) northeast of Madrid. During prosperous times over the next four centuries, construction projects expanded and improved the small monastery. Its fortunes declined significantly in the 1700s, and in 1835 it was confiscated by the Spanish government and sold to private owners who used its buildings to shelter farm animals. American publisher William Randolph Hearst bought parts of the monastery in 1931 with the intention of using its stones in the construction of a grand and fanciful castle at Wyntoon, California, but after some 10,000 stones were removed and shipped, they were abandoned in San Francisco for decades. These stones are now in various locations around California: the old church portal has been reassembled at the University of San Francisco, and the chapter house is being reassembled by Trappist monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California. In Spain, the new government of the Second Republic declared the monastery a National Monument in June 1931, but not in time to prevent the mass removal of stones. Today, the remnant buildings and walls stand on private farmland.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_de_Ovila

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1814:

The Carabinieri, the national military police of Italy, was founded by Victor Emmanuel I as the police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabinieri

1830:

The Scottish Church College (pictured), the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in India, was founded as the General Assembly's Institution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Church_College

1923:

The Hollywoodland Sign was officially dedicated as an advertisement for a new housing development in the hills above Hollywood, California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign

2003:

French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Colombian politician Íngrid Betancourt from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, causing a political scandal when details were leaked to the press six days later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ration_14_juillet

2011:

Three coordinated bombings across Mumbai, India, killed 26 victims and injured 130 more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Mumbai_bombings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

tardigrade: Sluggish; moving slowly. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tardigrade

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Alea iacta est. The die is cast. --Julius Caesar https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar