Escorial

Not far from Madrid, in Spain, the residence of the ruler of the country of Philip II was erected, which ruled on these lands from 1556 to 1598. This rectangular monastery of St. Lawrence, which is erected on a hill drowned by forests, is Escorial, which was built as « temple for God », as well as « cells for the king ».

For the first time, memories of Escorial were recorded in 1557, it was at that time that the soldiers of Philip II defeated the French army. At this time, parishioners of the church commemorated St. Lawrence, who was a victim of violence. Escorial in Spain has a rectangular outline for a reason, because its history is directly related to the fire-grazing grate, which has the same shape as the monastery itself. It was on her, the Romans burned the Christian martyr St. Lawrence. This torture device repeatedly repeats in the interior of the temple. To this day, the local monastery also reached, which, at that time, occupied most of the whole complex.

The construction of Escorial lasted as long as 20 years. A talented architect worked on him, who was a student of Michelangelo himself.

The Escorial has the appearance of a rectangle with dimensions of 208x162 meters. The material for the construction was gray granite. The complex holds on its territory 16 courtyards that are inside, 15 different galleries, as well as more than a dozen chapels, 300 cells. Many stairs, towers are built here, just a huge number of windows and doors belong to this structure. The galleries that belong to Escorial contain more than 1,600 different works.

Escorial has a rather strict look. The chambers of the king himself had such a disposition that allowed to easily get to the altar. In one of the parts of the structure there is a library, the appearance of which is very sophisticated and fairly restrained. Here there are some of the most valuable scrolls and various books, which, in their value, can only be delivered to the Vatican. In this library, all books are saved by roots in the middle, and this is a single place in the world, where, thus, they take care of maintaining bindings.

The walls of residential buildings adorn paintings, among which you can find masterpieces of very talented and famous artists. The local collection of wall carpets is very appreciated, which is put on display in the palace.

Escorial also serves as a mausoleum, which was intended for the father of Philip II, whose remains were transported here in 1586. All subsequent kings of Spain are buried in this place.

The Escorial – is a landmark of Spain, which has served for many centuries as a palace, monastery, residence of the king, as well as a mausoleum. Among modern tourists, the opinion of this ancient structure is shared, since for some – this is « the eighth wonder of the world », while others say that it is just « an architectural nightmare ».