El Escorial
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A distant view of El Escorial. |
San Lorenzo de El Escorial redirects here. For the municipalities, see San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid and El Escorial, Madrid.The
Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (in Spanish,
Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial) is an immense
palace,
Augustinian monastery,
museum, and
library complex located at
San Lorenzo de El Escorial (also
San Lorenzo del Escorial), a town 45 kilometres (28 miles) northwest of
Madrid in the
autonomous community of Madrid in
Spain.
At the foot of the
Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, the complex was commanded by King
Philip II of Spain as a
necropolis for the Spanish monarchs and the seat of studies in aid of the
Counter-Reformation. It was designed by the architects
Juan Bautista de Toledo and
Juan de Herrera in an austere classical style, and built from
1563 to
1584. It is shaped as a grid in memory of the martyrdom of
Saint Lawrence. It is said that during the
battle of Saint Quentin (1557), the Spanish troops destroyed a small
hermitage devoted to Lawrence. The King
Philip II of Spain decided to dedicate the monastery to the saint in thanks for his victory.
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The facade of the chapel, in the Baroque style of Jesuit churches, is integrated with the palatial facade |
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El Escorial |
The complex has an enormous store of art, including masterworks by
Titian,
Tintoretto,
El Greco,
Velázquez,
Roger van der Weyden,
Paolo Veronese,
Alonso Cano,
José de Ribera,
Claudio Coello and others. Also at the complex is a library containing thousands of priceless ancient
manuscripts.
Giambattista Castello designed the main staircase.
It is the burial site for most
Spanish kings in the last five centuries, from the houses of
Habsburg and
Bourbon. The Royal Pantheon contains the tombs of the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (King Charles I of Spain),
Philip II,
Philip III,
Philip IV,
Charles II,
Louis I,
Charles III,
Charles IV,
Ferdinand VII,
Isabel II,
Alfonso XII and
Alfonso XIII. The two first Bourbon kings,
Philip V and
Ferdinand VI, as well as King
Amadeo of Savoy (1870-1873), are not buried in the Monastery.
The complex is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is an extremely popular tourist attraction, often visited as a day trip from Madrid.
The surrounding town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid) is also home for the popular summer courses of
Universidad Complutense.A downhill neighbour town also named
El Escorial has a likenamed
RENFE station.
Near El Escorial there is the
Monumento Nacional de Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos with the tallest memorial cross in the world.
List of World Heritage Sites in Spain*
El Escorial - picturesain*
Jardin del Monasterio de El Escorial - a Gardens Guide review
