El Escorial

El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, or Monasterio del Escorial, is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 2.06 km up the valley from the town of El Escorial and about 45 kilometres northwest of the Spanish capital Madrid. Built between 1563 and 1584 by order of King Philip II, El Escorial is the largest Renaissance building in the world. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, basilica, royal palace, pantheon, library, museum, university, school, and hospital.

El Escorial consists of two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: the royal monastery itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about 5 kilometres away. These sites have a dual nature: during the 16th and 17th centuries, they were places in which the power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in…