Spain
San Lorenzo de El Escorial

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    • Day 44

      San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain

      May 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

      We left Muxia by bus and headed to Santiago de Compostela for the night. From there, we rented a car and drove to our next destination, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a surprise for me! Kevin happened upon information about the remarkable Monastery/Palace/Mausoleum, a UNESCO World Heritage sight and saw that within the palace was a world-renowned library and knew I would love to see it. He made secret plans for us to spend a few days here before heading to Madrid. The library was exquisitely constructed with painted frescoes and paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, centuries-old books, many with gold inlay that I am amazed still exist (no touching!). Other than the library, there is an impressive sanctuary and mausoleum. Unfortunately no photos are allowed in most of the palace. It was interesting to compare the differences in architecture as compared to what we’ve seen in France and Italy. The Palace is surrounded by a forest with several walking paths that we took advantage of.Read more

    • Day 23

      El Escorial

      October 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Today we took a half day - 5 hour - tour to El Escorial. The Monastery of El Escorial is the monument which is said to best represent the ideological aspirations of the Spanish Golden Age. During this era, the Spanish Crown, which had established itself as the main defender of the Catholic Counter-Reformation while other countries had embraced the Protestant Reform movement, became the leading world power on account of its dynastic alliances and territorial power in Europe.

      Philip II became King of Spain and of the Indies in 1556. Having decided to build the Monastery, he began his search for the ideal site in 1558 and finally located it in 1562. Work began on the project by Juan Bautista de Toledo. By 1571 the Monastery area was almost complete and work commenced on the King’s apartments in 1572 and on the Basilica in 1574. The Basilica was consecrated in 1595, though the last stone was laid in 1584, and the task of decoration dragged on for several more years.

      El Escorial is the result of a collaboration between two men - Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera. Juan Bautista de Toledo, who had worked under Michaelangelo in the Vatican, was entrusted with the general site plan and most of the design drawings. There were also a number of master builders and overseers who had important roles in its design and construction. The final result of El Escorial is regarded as a highly personal manifestation of Philip’s character.

      The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo El Escorial consists of a huge rectangle, or grid, that houses the building’s various functions:
      1. The holy area comprising the Church and its atrium
      2. The Monastery, laid out around one large and four small courtyards
      3. The King’s Apartments
      4. The outbuildings of the King’s Palace
      5. The School, and
      6. The Library

      We were able to visit the Library, the Church, the King’s Apartments, The Courtyard, Gallery of the Lower Cloister, the Main Staircase, the Chapter Rooms and The Pantheon (Dead Royals). We also snuck a look at the King’s Gardens through a few windows.

      There is a large collection of artwork spread out through the various rooms, too many to mention.
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    • Day 4

      Escorial

      November 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

      Giornata veramente densa oggi ..... Usciamo dall'albergo alle 7,45 per tornare alle 22,50...
      Abbiamo preso un pacchetto in un'agenzia per andare all'Escorual e a Toledo.
      La mattina in pullman andiamo all'Escorial, un monastero con basilica e palazzo Reale fatto costruire nel 1563 da re Filippo II come sua residenza estiva. È infatti a 1.000 metri di altitudine in una zona vicina alle montagne e fresca in estate. Sotto la basilica c'è anche il Pantheon dove sono sepolti tutti i re da Filippo II in poi, comprese le regine e nella parte chiamata Pantheon des infantes, oltre ai bimbi anche i parenti più stretti dei re.
      Il palazzo è mastodontico, tutto in granito che viene dalle montagne circostanti, molto sobrio ma che da un senso di forza e potenza proprio quello che il re voleva.
      All'interno ci sono opere di numerosi artisti italiani oltre ad un dipinto di El Greco
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    • Day 13

      Valle de Colgamuros y Escorial

      July 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      We went to visit two different yet unique places on Karina's birthday: el Valle de Cuelgamuros and the El Escorial Palace.

      Our first stop was the Valle. It houses an incredible basilica carved just inside a mountain. It is an imposing place, and one of the things that called our attention was the sculptures inside the basilica, including the figures of two imposing angels guarding the entrance, and those of monks overseeing the people attending the service. As luck would have it, there was a mass at the time we came in, and for that reason, we couldn't take a picture of the place.

      The basilica is crowned by a massive 150-meter high cross with a depiction of the 4 evangelists at its bottom. The cross is visible from the esplanade.

      From there, we drove 20 minutes to reach El Escorial, an obligated scale for those who are tourists in the area of Madrid. El Escorial is a Palace-Convent that is famous for holding the remnants of most kings of Spain and their families. The Convent-Palace shows the close connection that existed between Church and Monarchy at the peak of the Spanish Empire. The most impressive room of the complex is the Library, which was designated as a room to study books but also to perform studies on astronomy and mathematics, amongst others. The second part of the complex is the Covent, which also includes the tomb rooms for Spanish royalty.

      Nerea met with us at El Escorial and made the tour as we caught up and talked. Afterward, Nerea suggested for us to stop at a nice restaurant just 3 kilometers away, where we enjoyed some tinto de verano, octopus, and salad. We were ready to head into our final destination of the day at the heart of Madrid.
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    • Day 23

      The Valley of the Fallen

      October 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      We left El Escorial and drove about 10km northeast, to the Valley of Cuelgamuros, formerly known as Valley of the Fallen. It is a monument in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains near Madrid. The valley contains a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial .

      Dictator Francisco Franco ordered construction of the site after the civil war. It was built from 1940 to 1958 and opened in 1959. Franco said that the monument was intended as a “national act of atonement” and reconciliation.

      The site served as Franco’s burial place from his death in November 1975 (although it was not originally intended that he be buried there) until his exhumation on 24 October 2019 following a long and controversial legal process. This was due to moves to remove all public veneration of his dictatorship.

      The monument, considered a landmark of 20th-century Spanish architecture, was designed by Pedro Muguruza and Diego Méndez on a scale to equal, according to Franco, “the grandeur of the monuments of old, which defy time and memory”.

      Together with the Universidad Laboral de Gijón, it is the most prominent example of the original Spanish Neo-Herrerian style, which was intended to form part of a revival of Juan de Herrera’s architecture, exemplified by the nearby royal residence El Escorial.

      The monument precinct covers over 13.6 square kilometres of Mediterranean woodlands and granite boulders on the Sierra de Guadarrama hills, more than 900 metres above sea level and includes a basilica, a Benedictine abbey, a guest house, the Valley, and the Juanelos - four cylindrical monoliths dating from the 16th century.

      The most prominent feature of the monument is the towering 150 metre-high Christian cross, the tallest such cross in the world, erected over a granite outcrop 150 metres over the Basilica esplanade and visible from 30 kilometres away.

      Beneath the Valley floor lie the remains of 40,000 people, whose names are accounted for in the monument’s register. The valley contains remains of both Nationalists an Republicans. Republicans were interred here mostly without the consent or even the knowledge of their families; some estimates claim that there 33,800 victims of Francoism interred - and their families have legal problems in recovering the remains of their family member.

      Franco was exhumed and removed from the church in 2019 in an effort to lower the public veneration of the place. He is now buried in the municipal cemetery that serves the Madrid neighbourhoods of Mingorrubio and El Pardo.

      We toured the Basilica which is very big and quite austere, but no photos were allowed.
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    • Day 4

      Valle de los Caìdos

      November 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      Dopo l'Escorial andiamo alla Valle de los Caìdos che dista 12 chilometri. È un sito fatto costruire dal generale Franco nel 1945 in memoria dei caduti nella guerra di indipendenza del 1936/39. Qui sono sepolti più di 1.500 militari caduti in guerra.
      Arrivando si vede un'enorme croce sopra una collina rocciosa. Da una parte della collina c'è un grande monastero, dall'altra una chiesa tutta scavata nella roccia. Si entra per ben 300 metri sotto la collina e la chiesa è veramente imponente con una cupola tutta decorata in mosaico dorato con circa 5 milioni di tasselli. Dall'esterno si vede solo una grande spianata con una bella vista sulla valle e foresta sottostante, il porticato e l'entrata alla chiesa.
      Le casse con i caduti sono ai lati della chiesa, anch'essi tutti sotto la roccia.
      È un'opera veramente imponente ed incredibile sia dal punto di vista tecnico che religioso e simbolico.
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    • Day 349

      San Lorenzo del Escorial

      January 22, 2021 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

      Nahezu ein Jahr mit vielen Hoch und Tiefs, aber nie mit Langeweile!

      Langsam erkunde ich, was ich darf: die Provinz Madrid mit wunderschönen Bergen und Seen, kleinen Dörfern und toller Architektur! Madrid hat so viel mehr zu bieten als eine tolle Großstadt und ich kann mich an den wenigen Stunden, die ich am Wochenende habe, kaum entscheiden, wo ich anhalten will!

      Es geht voran! Zu langsam, mit wenig Plan und viel Ungewissheit, aber in die richtige Richtung!
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    • Day 4

      El Escorial

      November 7, 2021 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

      El Escorial gilt als der größte Renaissancebau der Welt. Es handelt sich um eine Palast-und Klosteranlage, die nach 20- jähriger Bauzeit 1584 fertiggestellt wurde. Der Gebäudekomplex umfasst 33.000 qm mit über 2000 Zimmern, 3000 Türen, 2673 Fenster, 16 Höfen, 12 Kreuzgängen, 88 Brunnen und 86 Treppenaufgänge😮.
      Im Klosterpalast befinden sich die letzten Ruhestätten vieler Mitglieder der spanischen Königsfamilie. Das Pantheon der Könige und der Infanten beeindruckt mit seinem weißen und schwarzen Marmor. Unter anderem ist hier Karl V (1500-1558) beigesetzt.
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    • Day 4

      Valle de los Caídos

      November 7, 2021 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

      Die monumentale Gedenkstätte im Tal der Gefallenen wurde ab 1940 von Zwangsarbeitern in den Fels gebaut. Es gilt als eines der größten neueren Mausoleen der Welt, in dem sich die Grabstätte Francos von 1975-2019 befand. Die Kirche wurde 1960 von Papst Johannes XXIII zur Basilika Minor erhoben. Zu dem Bauwerk gehört auch das höchste freistehende Betonkreuz der Welt. Es ist 152 m hoch und 46 m breit.Read more

    • Day 4

      Aus- bzw. Ruhe- und Kühlzeit

      June 4, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Ich nehme mir die Zeit und beginne diesen Footprint während ich auf meine typisch spanische Paella warte. Das ist eine Reispfanne, in meinem Fall mit Gemüse und Schrimps, insofern meine Bestellung richtig war.
      Dieses hoffentlich leckere und in jedem Fall landestypische Gericht wird in den schmalen, etwas unwegsamen aber sehr hübschen Gassen von Segovia genossen.
      Um dieses Touristennest zu erreichen, mussten wir zur Abwechslung schon um zehn vor Neun an der Bushaltestelle aufkreuzen, um danach eine halbe Stunde auf unseren Privatbus zu warten, welcher uns aus der Stadt raus und dann eineinhalb Stunden durch die bergige Pampa fuhr.
      Von mir aus könnten wir auch hier wohnen, es ist herrlich gemütlich und trotzdem belebt, bei deutlich nordmenschfreundlicheren Temperaturen.
      Um uns dieses Essen zu verdienen, besichtigten wir bisher eine antike Burg, bestiegen einen Turm und schlenderten noch durch eine imposante Kathedrale. Besagter Turmaufstieg war nervenaufreibend, da es nur eine sehr schmale und steile Wendeltreppe gab, die leider nicht als Einbahnstraße vorgesehen war, sodass es zu kritischen Engpässen und daraus resultierendem Stau kam...
      Die Aussicht auf karges und baumloses Land war aber sehr schön.
      Zu unserer großen Freude gab es Schatten, nur Frau Herzer legte eine Sonnenpause ein, in Spanien leidet man ja schließlich schnell unter UV-Mangel.
      Die Burg war stilecht und ausgesucht tourifreundlich eingerichtet (es sah alles so aus wie im Bilderbuch) und wurde von einer japanischen Reisegruppe geflutet.
      Die Kathedrale blendete in Goldtönen (und ich dachte immer evangelische Kirchen seinen weniger prunkvoll ) kann aber durchaus auch als architektonisches Kunstwerk betrachtet werden, zumindest von außen.

      Soeben traf mein Essen ein; ich hatte leider überlesen, dass es neben Schrimps auch Muscheln und Tintenfischringe beinhaltete...
      So kam ich jetzt in den Genuss festzustellen, dass mir Muscheln nicht schmecken, was schließlich auch eine wertvolle Erfahrung ist.
      Wenn man Sema und Janine glauben darf, waren allerdings weder die Muscheln noch die T-F-ringe von besonderer Qualität, es besteht also noch Hoffnung.
      Nach unserer gemeinsamen Zeit, bummelten noch alle in kleinen Gruppen durch das Städtchen, kauften Souvenirs oder fraßen sich durch die verschiedenen Köstlichkeiten. Ich habe alles in die Tat umgesetzt;)
      Der restliche Abend wird unspektakulär, wahrscheinlich werden wir uns die Zeit noch etwas im Einkaufszentrum unseres Viertels vertreiben.
      Buenas Tardes a todos! (Bitte leo.org einschalten:))
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    San Lorenzo de El Escorial

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