MONASTERY OF SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL

Next to the Sierra of Guadarrama we meet The Monastery of the Escorial, it is the monument that makes triumph the style Herreriano in Spain, errand to build for Felipe II to celebrate the victory of San Quintín in 1557, the architects in charge of carrying out so monumental work John the Baptist from Toledo that begins the works in 1563 were and later on, after the death of the first one, Juan of Herrera that finish them in 1584.

Monastery front
Declared Patrimony of the Humanity for the UNESCO in 1984, next to the rest of the city of The Escorial, it consists of a great square plant with a tower in each angle that is divided in three vertical areas whose space is articulated through numerous patios.

Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial

The basilica this finished off by a great dome in the cruise and two towers to the feet of the temple, these last the same as the four of the corners are had of slate in the exterior what denotes flamenco influence.

In the exterior the decoration is of great simplicity the doric order it is used in the covers and the vain ones are framed, pyramids and balls are used for the geometric topics and the statues are of big dimensions.
The interior of the monastery harbors an important library and a collection of painters' of great fame squares as: The Greek, Velázquez, Ticiano, Tintoreto, Ribera, etc.
Conceived by Felipe II for real vault, palace and monastery, their central axis is the basilica of Greek cross under whose bigger chapel is the crypt where the kings and the queens mothers of King are buried, from Carlos I until the present time, except Felipe V and Fernando V.

Besides all this the city of the Escorial that surrounds to the monastery is plagued of works of great interest like they are the Infant's House and the House of the Prince work of Juan of Villanueva, the two houses of occupations located in front of the north facade of the monastery, works of Juan of Herrera, or Carlos' III Real Coliseum (that today is an important cultural focus in the city), or also the House of Francisco's Compaña of Moorish.

The house of the prince
All this combined one historical artistic you can contemplate from Felipe's II seat, a rock with figured seats to pick from where there is an excellent view and where the king contemplated the development of the works of the monastery.

VISITS

Monastery- Monday closed. Opened 10 - 17 h.
The house of prince- It opens up in week saint and in summer.
ACCESS
 Railcar- N-VI/A-6 to M-527 y later M-600 to San Lorenzo del Escorial.
Train- Line C-8a to El Escorial and bus line 660 to San Lorenzo del Escorial.