Not long after attaining the Spanish throne in 1556, Philip II was possessed by the idea of creating a combined monastery/palace complex in the general area of Madrid, where he was moving the royal court. The complex was to be ambitious and on the austere side, as part of the Counter-Reformation movement (the not-always-gentle reaction of the Catholic Church to the outbreaks of Protestantism that had been springing up throughout Europe at the time). Philip collaborated with the architect Juan Bautista de Toledo on a plan, and construction began in 1563 at the foot of Mt. Abantos, about 28 miles northwest of Madrid. Toledo died in 1567, but his work was taken over by his apprentice, Juan de Herrera, who oversaw the project through its completion in 1584. The immense complex still serves its original purposes and is still in fine condition. The monastery, originally run by Hieronymite monks, is now run by the Order of Saint Augustine. Much of the complex is open to visitors, and about half a million of them take advantage each year.

To join the visiting hordes, we had to figure out how to get to the monastery from Madrid. There turned out to be two ways to get there using mass transit: the train or the bus. The bus was surprisingly inexpensive and not significantly slower than the train (about 45 minutes each way), so we ended up taking the bus. The bus station at El Escorial also had the advantage of being closer to the monastery than the train station. Madrid's bus station was in the basement of the Moncloa Metro station, so we rode the Metro to the Moncloa stop, found the right bus, paid the driver and took our seats. We didn't have to wait long to depart, as there are four departures per hour.

On the way to El Escorial, we could see a large white cross in the distance from the bus. This cross, 500 feet tall, is situated on top of a granite ridge into which a gigantic basilica has been dug. The entire complex, also including a Benedictine abbey, was built under the orders of Francisco Franco as a monument to those who died during the Spanish Civil War. The complex is called the Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos), and 40,000 of the war's victims (from both the Nationalist and Republican sides of the conflict) lie buried under the valley floor. Construction of the Basilica began in 1940 and was completed in 1959. Some of the labor (about 10%) was performed by political prisoners, who were given the choice of working on the project in exchange for a reduction of their sentences. Contrary to his wishes (he wanted to be buried in Madrid), Franco is buried in the basilica – his grave is located behind the altar. Many are still divided over his role in Spanish history, and many visit the grave for reasons of their own (either to celebrate his life or to make sure he is still dead). Our bus did not venture into the Valley of the Fallen, but continued on into the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

The bus station wasn't far from the monastery, but getting from one to the other did involve a certain amount of walking through the town. The town seemed pleasant, with shade trees along the street to reduce the effects of the Spanish heat. There were signs pointing toward our destination (toward the left, on exiting the bus station). Some of the houses and other structures were obviously of considerable age.

On exiting the canopy of trees, there is no possibility of mistaking the fortresslike El Escorial for anything else. One is confronted with the vast wall of the monastery's north façade, which has spired towers at each corner and a little door in the middle to accept visitors.


At the beginning of the self-guided tour route there is a sign forbidding all photography inside the complex. So I apologize in advance for the quality of some of the pictures appearing below. The El Escorial website has more.

The tour route mostly passes through many of the palace rooms. As with most royal palaces, it's clear that little expense was spared in its construction and decoration.


An art gallery showcases much of the big-name artwork that was purchased for display in the palace.

One other purpose for which the monastery was built was to serve as a final resting place for members of the royal family. There are two areas of the palace (or rather under the palace) set aside for this, called the Pantheon of the Kings and the Pantheon of the Princes. The Pantheon of the Kings is reserved for actual monarchs (male or female, despite the name of the room), and for queen consorts who are mothers of monarchs. The first monarch entombed there is Philip II's father, Charles/Carlos I/V (a man of many roles, known both as Charles I of Spain and as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), who Philip had relocated from the less prestigious monastery where he'd originally been buried. The Pantheon is an ornately decorated but dimly lit octagonal room where a visitor is surrounded by shelving with room for twenty-six identical marble sepulchers, nearly all occupied. There are currently two free spaces, reserved for the parents of King Juan Carlos I, who are deceased but "awaiting interment". Which brings up the issue of the final destinations for the still-living Juan Carlos and his consort, Queen Sofía (and their son, Felipe VI, and his successors). As of now, this is still up in the air. The Pantheon of the Princes might be a possibility – this is a multi-room area with space for sixty niches, of which only thirty-seven are filled (there is more variety in the tombs here also) – but this might be unacceptable for one reason or another.

The description "awaiting interment" relates to a time-honored procedure for processing the remains of the royal deceased. It seems the newly deceased are placed into leaden urns and left in a room called a pudridero (there are two - one for the kings and one for the princes) to decompose for fifty years, after which the urns are appropriately entombed along with their contents. The pudrideros are not part of the tour – one hopes the ventilation is stellar.

As required for any monastery, El Escorial has a place of worship, called the Basilica of San Lorenzo el Real. As one would expect, it is well decorated, inside and out, and it has a big dome on top. There is a connection between the basilica and the royal bedchamber, in the form of a window through which the king or queen could observe mass if physically incapacitated (as Philip II was in his later years).



The final stop on the tour is the Library, which has many priceless volumes and is lavishly decorated with ceiling frescoes. There is also a large armillary sphere, dating from 1582 (a gift from Cardinal Fernando de Medici of Florence) and representing the Ptolemaic view of the solar system.

Exiting the monastery, we headed into town and found something for lunch.

We returned to the bus station and caught a bus back to Madrid. We spent the rest of the day resting and packing. The following day we would be leaving Madrid, heading southward for Andalusia and the fabled city of Granada.