The Royal Monastery of Santo Tomás is a Gothic-style building.

It was founded in 1480 by the treasurer of the Catholic Monarchs, Hernán Núñez de Arnalte, who granted power of attorney to his wife, María Dávila, and Fray Tomás de Torquemada to act on his behalf for the foundation of a Dominican convent in Ávila in honour of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

In 1482, under the direction of Martín de Solórzano, work began, which lasted until 1493, with donations provided by Don Hernán, and others granted by the Catholic Monarchs, who chose the new convent for the summer residence and burial of the heir to the crown, Prince Don Juan, in the tomb built years later (1510) by Domenico Fancelli, commissioned by Ferdinand the Catholic.

It was used as a tribunal for the Inquisition. Its rooms housed the last years of Friar Tomás de Torquemada until his death on 16 September 1498. It was also a house of study and later a university.

The façade of the church is distinguished by its immense façade with a large segmental arch and two buttresses. These form an "H", the initial letter of Hispanidad. The balls that run along the machones abound throughout the building. In addition, ten statues of Burgos art by Gil de Siloé and Diego de la Cruz can be seen under canopies and pinnacles. The ones closest to the door represent the Annunciation. In the middle of the façade is a large rose window that gives light to the choir and the church, and a little higher up, the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs supported by an eagle.

The infant Don Juan was the only son of the Catholic Monarchs, but he died prematurely before reaching the throne. His mother, Isabella, wanted to leave a marble sarcophagus for her son in her will.

The tomb is the work of Domenico Fancelli. It was sculpted in Genoa in 1511-1512 and then placed in the monastery church. Domenico Fancelli was inspired by the tomb of the Catholic Monarchs (royal chapel of Granada) and by Italian art (bronze of Pope Sixtus IV in Vatican City by Pollaiuolo).