The monastery is a little old gem embedded in a brand new city, the oldest building in USA for sure.
The garden is really nice, the building is beautiful - maybe because was made in europe centuries ago - and walking in the cloisters you can almost feel in medieval Spain. Frankly i could live without christmas decorations in the inner garden close to the well, but the little church (they actually hold services and weddings there) was fine and the walk was relaxing and peaceful. You should take a look at the "signatures" of the stonemasons.
Besides this beauty, we were disappointed when we got there around 11am and we were told to come back at 1pm because the monastery was closed (despite the sign saying that opening time was 10am).
Tickets cost 8$ (4$ for students).

Good place if you want to admire european beauty in the middle of Miami. Anyway i hope no one else decides to bring something so ancient outside of europe.

I found this to be a fascinating building. The history of how it was transported to the US and rebuilt was amazing! For a few blissful hours I felt as if I were back in Spain! It is so quiet here in the middle of North Miami Beach----a real respite. The gardens and chapel are lovely.

Willam Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate, and barely disguised leading role in the movie "Citizen Cain" heard that the
Spanish Army had occupied a Cistercian Monastery, during the Spanish Civil Way. He determined to save it from the ignomeny of being a refuge for many horses, and succeeded in buying these cloisters, and shipped them to Miami, enroute to Heast Castle, his Palace in California.

Unfortunately, US Customs balked at allowing the straw that the stones were wrapped in, into the US, and the whole shipment was quarentined.

Heast Castle's loss is South Florida's gain, and although the Church is not the original, it is still nice to visit. Strange that it should have Anglican services, next to this part of a former Catholic Monastery!

The history is really more impressive than the attraction, but if you are spending a week or more in Miami, consider driving here on the way to Fort Lauderdale!

My husband and I drove to Timo's Restaurant in North Beach. Then we took a short drive to the Cloisters. The building was erected in Spain and then brought to the United States by William Randolph Hearst in 1925. After his death in 1952, Messrs. W. Edgemon and R. Moss purchased it for a tourist attraction. It took 19 months and almost 1.5 million dollars to put the Cloisters back together in what Time magazine called the 'world's biggest jigsaw puzzle." In 1964, the Cloisters was bought by Col. Robert Pentland, Jr. It was purchased for an Episcopal parish and is active today.