El Escorial
UNESCO World Heritage Site (Monastery And Site Of The Escurial, Inscribed 1984), Built 1563 To 1584 For Philip II As Monastery, Palace, Basilica, Library And Royal Pantheon · San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid
Philip II built this in the hills an hour from Madrid and it is the clearest statement any Spanish monarch ever made about himself. It is a monastery, a palace, a basilica, a library and a royal burial vault in one rectangular granite block, laid out on a grid, almost entirely without ornament, and it was finished in twenty-one years. The austerity is the point: the king ran an empire from a small plain room beside the high altar, where he could hear Mass from his bed, and he died in it. Below the basilica the Pantheon of Kings holds almost every Spanish monarch since Charles V in identical marble sarcophagi stacked around an octagonal chamber. The library is the other surprise, a barrel-vaulted hall with frescoed ceilings and books shelved spine-inwards. It is cold, grey and severe, and after the Alhambra or Seville it is a shock, which is exactly why it is worth the trip: it is the other half of what Spain was, and almost nobody who does the southern tour ever sees it.
Avenida Juan de Borbon y Battemberg, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, 28200, Spain
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The structure: open daily except MONDAYS, with SEPARATE SUMMER AND WINTER SCHEDULES and last admission an hour before closing. A FREE LATE-AFTERNOON WINDOW runs on certain weekdays for EU and some other citizens. The basilica restricts sightseeing during services. SECTIONS CLOSE FOR RESTORATION AND STATE USE without notice, including at times the Pantheon. The gardens keep their own hours. Confirm the Monday closure and the free window.