El Escorial

El Escorial is definitly one of the most important monuments in Spain, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school.

Located 45 kilometers from Madrid city center, on the counterforts of the Sierra Guadarrama, you can acces it by train from Atocha or Chamartin railway stations, or by bus lines 661 and 664 from Moncloa. And believe me, it is worth a visit, not only for the monument, a splendor by itself, but also for the beauty of the region.

The Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: the royal monastery itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometres away. These sites have a dual nature; that is to say, during the 16th and 17th centuries, they were places in which the power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was, at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it is now a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine.

Built between 1563 and 1584, it has a austere style known as desornamentado which had a big influence on Spanish Architecture. It was Philippe II's will who installed his Palace in it, and for that engaged the Spanish architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo, to be his collaborator in the design of El Escorial. Juan Bautista had spent the greater part of his career in Rome, where he had worked on the basilica of St. Peter's, and in Naples, where he had served the king's viceroy. Philip appointed him architect-royal in 1559, and together they designed El Escorial as a monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world.

It is striking to see the contrast between the simplicity of the architecture, and the richness of the art collections exposed their by the Bourbons. Don't miss the Church, the Library and the Royal Pantheon.

For more information, don't hesitate to check El Escorial wikipedia pageLess