El Escorial

Alright, after another extended layoff, I'm back in the blogging saddle. I think I've streamlined the photo uploading and formatting process so that updating this bad boy will be easier and more efficient in the future. So, a few weekends back some friends and I visited El Escorial, a royal palace/monastery located about an hour outside of Madrid via train.It was constructed from 1563 to 1584 by Spanish king Phillip II to commemorate his victory over King Henry of France in a 1557 battle. Talk about an extended victory party, eh? Hope you enjoy the virtual tour!

El Escorial surrounded by buildings with the same architectural style. 

Inside there was an exhibit demonstrating how the place was built. Lots of big stones is what I gathered.

The place is huge--tons of rooms and inner courtyards as well.

This room had pictures of the king's conquest on the walls. Very fun to walk and "watch" the battles.

Note the battle in the upper left. The room is appropriately called the "Hall of Battles."

Probably the coolest/creepiest part of the place: The Pantheon of the Kings. The bodies of all of the kings and queens of Spain (with a few exceptions) dating back to the 1500s lie in marble sepulchers.

The descent to the Pantheon. Very dark.

Pictures aren't actually allowed inside El Escorial but I did a pretty good job of avoiding the vigilantes (security guards). I couldn't quite get a good shot in here though so here's a picture from Google. It definitely wasn't this bright when we were there.

If the Pantheon wasn't enough, there are other royals (Pantheon of Princes) buried throughout adjoining chambers.

Phillip II commissioned some of the greatest artists of the day to fill El Escorial with paintings and sculptures. This hall and others contain works from Italians Titian and Tintoretto, the Dutchmen Rogier van der Weyden and some of Spain's most legendary painters: El Greco, Jose de Riberá and Diego Velázquez.

Giant hallways with more art on the walls. Amazing when you consider how few people lived here--basically it was constructed just for the royals.

Sistine Chapel-ish ceiling.

The Patio of Kings. We'll come back to this but first we've got to head into the Basilica.

This place is just as large and as extravagant as the other cathedrals we've visited. The only difference is, this one was only used by the royals--seems like an awfully big place for one family!

The altar--apparently quite a bit of the gold the Spanish brought back from the Americans ended up here in El Escorial.

Back outside to the Patio of the Kings.

The token picture with me in it to prove that I actually did visit these places.

The library: one of the most interesting parts of El Escorial.

A really cool astronomical instrument that showed how the scientists of the day viewed the universe: the earth as the center with the planets and sun moving around in orbits as if fixed to a large sphere.

They can't leave anything undecorated in Europe.

Really old books, including a really old Bible on the left.

El Escorial is out in the countryside--it functioned as a retreat from the city of Madrid and as a royal hunting lodge.

A beautiful garden sits next to the building on one side.

Spring is on the way!

Side view of the enormous edifice.

Really cool gardening. 

So that's El Escorial. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Lisbon and Basque Country pictures will hopefully be on there way this weekend as well. If you'd like to see more pictures, click here: El Escorial Pics


¡Hasta luego!