El Escorial is situated at the foot of the mountain Abantos in the mountain range Sierra de Guadarrama. It is a barren place and is wind-swept and semi-forested. It got its name because of the tailings or piles of tag nearby that are called Scoria.

The historical residence of the Spanish king is El Escorial. This is one of the royal sites in Spain and it functions as a royal palace, school, museum and monastery. This place is situated at a distance of 45 KM from Madrid, the Spanish capital in the San Lorenzo town.

This place contains 2 architectural complexes – Royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat – and these have great significance culturally and historically. There was a time when El Escorial was not only a Spanish royal palace but also a monastery. This property belonged to the monks Hieronymite originally but at present it belongs to the community of the Order of Saint Augustine.

The Spanish king, Philip II chose this location although it is not an ideal place for the royal palace. He authorized the construction of a grand building in order to celebrate the victory of Spain against the king of France in the battle at St. Quentin in 1557. He wanted the building to have a cemetery for the remains of himself, his parents, Isabella and Charles I of Portugal and his descendents. He envisaged that this place would become a study center for Counter-Reformation.

The construction of the building began in the year 1563; it was designed and supervised by Juan Bautista de Toledo and it took 21 years for its completion. The floor plan for this building was based on the Solomon temple.

Most of the Spanish kings in the last five centuries were buried in El Escorial. Some of the kings buried in this place are – Alfonso XII, Alfonso XIII, Charles II, Charles III, Charles IV, Charles V, Ferdinand VII, Isabel II, Louis I, Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV. The kings Amadeo of Savoy, Ferdinand VI and Philip V were not buried in this monastery.

Various sections of this building are – The patio of the kings, Basilica, Palace of Philip II, Hall of Battles, Pantheon of the Kings, Pantheon of the Princes, Art Gallery, Architectural Museum, Gardens of the Friars, Library and Reliquaries.

UNESCO, on 2nd November, 1984, formally declared the Royal Site of San Lorenzo in El Escorial as a World Heritage Site. This site is extremely popular among tourists and it is estimated that every year this place is visited by 500,000 people.



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