El Escorial: A Monastery, the Valley of the Fallen, and Another Castle

Laura and me outside El Escorial

Although our excursion this week was only a brief day trip, it was in no way less fulfilling or less educational.  We started off to the city of Escorial with three particular destinations in mind: El Escorial, El Valle de los Caídos, and El Castillo de Manzanares el Real.  As this study abroad program has progressed we have become increasingly skillful at touring all of the sights to see on our itinerary without feeling as if we are rushed or being bamboozled out of a visit because of something being closed for siesta.  I credit most of this improvement to our new director Professor Meredith, who has traveled through Spain various times before directing this program, but I also am proud to say that my 17 girlfriends and I are now very accustomed to the ups and downs of our Spanish travels.

We arrived first at the famous monastery El Escorial, which was built in commemoration to the famous Battle of St. Quentin, a Spanish victory against Henry II of France.  The floor plan was made to mimic that of Solomon’s temple and the overall layout of the building is a form of symbolic recognition of the death of San Lorenzo, or Saint Lawrence.  This saint was martyred by being tied down and burned to death on a grill, and when looking at El Escorial from an aerial perspective, the building as a whole appears similar to a grill.  The Battle of St. Quentin occurred on the day of San Lorenzo, so King Philip II of Spain commissioned the Spanish architect Juan Bautista de Toledo to build this monastery as an all-encompassing symbol of the religious and historical significance surrounding this battle. 

El Panteon Real
(props to Chloé for this illegal photo)

However, El Escorial not only serves as a monastery, but also as a royal palace and is home to the famous Panteon Real.  During our guided tour, we first viewed the Panteon Real, which is where the majority of the Spanish Kings and the mothers of Spanish Kings are entombed.  You would think that saying that all the Spanish queens have tombs in el Panteon Real would suffice, but the fact is that Spanish Kings often had two or three wives during the span of their reign, so only the most important queens are buried there; in other words, the queens who bore sons that eventually inherited the throne.  Although it was perfectly clear to us as we viewed the tombs in el Panteon Real as well as various tombs for princes, princesses, and infants of royal decent that there were rotting remains within all of these stone encasements, it was not nearly as eerie and spine chilling as a cemetery environment.  Rather, we felt privileged to be able to stand so closely to these men, women, and children who had passed on, an attitude that I want to try to apply to future grave visits I make in cemeteries. 

Yup, that's Evelyn on the right ;)

We also viewed some incredible paintings and plateresque architecture throughout the rest of El Escorial.  The furnished royal chambers, the palace library, and the church all located within El Escorial were simply breathtaking.  I was paying so much attention to the historical information that I neglected to notice the game that my friends had decided to play; more specifically, the let’s-see-how-many-stickers-we-can-put-in-Alex’s-hair-before-she-notices game.  Eventually, Evelyn’s guilt was triggered and she chose to enlighten me regarding the lovely green decorations that had adorned my hair for the about half an hour of the tour.  I couldn’t help but laugh at my cluelessness. 

Slightly ironic to take a smiling picture here,
but these girls just make me so happy!

Next we went on to El Valle de los Caídos, or The Valley of the Fallen.  This historical site is most well known for it’s huge stone cross, which can be seen clearly from the freeway since it is located high in the mountains and the contrast of the white stone against the green, lush trees is impossible to ignore.  However, there is much more to this seemingly glorious and religious cross and the basilica located beneath it.  This basilica was built by none other than Franco, a Spanish dictator who did a lot more harm than good during his reign.  He wanted to built the largest an most grand basilica the Catholic church had ever seen, but was forced to stop construction at a certain point due to the Papal decree that no basilica can be larger than the Vatican in Rome.  Franco stated that this basilica would serve as a sort of reconciliation for all of the horrible things he had done during his reign, especially his past treatment of prisoners.  However, during the construction of this basilica and the cross above it, countless slaves were used, abused, and killed to make this “reconciliation” of Franco’s become a reality.  Many slaves died of fatigue during the construction or fell off of one of the many precarious cliff edges and died upon impact, from which the name of this location originates.  Today, el Valle de los Caídos is an extremely controversial topic, and many professors refuse to take their students to this site in protest of Franco and his many horrible actions.  I am grateful that we had the opportunity to visit this historical site, and I hope to formulate my own well-informed opinion regarding the reign of Franco as we finish up our studies here in Spain.

 

Inside Franco's Basilica

Just another Friday afternoon in Spain

Luckily, our visit to El Escorial did not end on such a heavy and tragic note, and we ended with a wonderful visit to our second European castle, Manzanares El Real.  Since we did not have any sort of arrangements with a guide for this castle, we were free to frolic in this ancient structure of defense, taking pictures, laughing, and living our own fairy tale reality here in Spain to the fullest.  It breaks my heart to think that I only have two more of these highly educational and fun-filled weekends left in the country of Spain before I return home to the Unites States, and I am more determined than ever to make these last twenty days in Europe count.  ¡Hasta la fin de semana que viene!