Day 4

The entire group traveled by bus to El Escorial, about a 2-hour drive. El Escorial is a grand palace that was built by King Philip II. He designed it so that he could live like a monk; thus, many of the walls are undecorated and everything is centered around the church, the altar of which can be seen from a window in each bedroom. The library was one of the most fantastic parts, and we had a great guide to tell us all about it. It is an amazing library because it contains many books that were prohibited during the Inquisition about astronomy, Tarot, the natural sciences, etc., as well as books written in Arabic, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The palace is also the burial site of all the kings and queens of Spain since Carlos V, including two empty tombs for the king and queen that would have been buried there had it not been for the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

On that note, we also went to the Valle de los Caídos, or, Valley of the Fallen. This is a memorial to all those who died during Spain's civil war from 1936-1939. A basilica was built into the side of a mountain, and the granite that was removed was used to form a 500-foot tall cross above the site. Buried here are not only Francisco Franco and José Antonio Primo de Rivera, but nearly 50,000 Loyalists and Nationalists as well. Franco decided to build this monument/church in an apparent attempt to reunite the people of Spain, but there are many things that make us suspicious of his intent, the first of which is that it was the Republican prisoners who dug out the 220,000 tons of granite, twelve of which died during the process.  Also, it is an incredibly unique and haunting place: the statues of angels have cloaks that cover their faces, they are dark and tower over the viewers, many hold swords. The lanterns are shaped like swords and torches and the main room of the church is decorated with tapestries depicting the Apocalypse.