Page 115 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

SPAIN 113

The building of El Es<Orial >-
When chief architect Juan Bautista
de Toledo died in 1567 he was
replaced by Juan de Herrera, royal FRANCE
inspector of monuments. The pia in
architectural style of El Escorial is
Barcelona
called desornamentado, which b L ESCORIAL 0
I iter ally means "unadorned." ..
•Madrid
SPAIN
ME DIT£ flRANEAN
Royal Apartments •Seville SEA
Bui It on the second floor of the
AT!AII/TIC
palace, these consist of Felipe ll's OC£AII/ ALGERIA
modestly decorated living quarters. Patio de los Evangelis1as
His bedroom opens directly onto This has a magnificent
the high altar of the basilica. pavilion by Juan de Herrera THE LIBRARY
at its center.
Established by Fe I ipe II (r 1 5 56-98), this was
~ Royal Pantheon Spain's first public library. In 1619, a decree
was issued demanding that a copy of each new
pub I ication in the empire be sent here. At its
zenith, it contained some 40,000 books and
manuscripts. The long Print Room has a marble
~ Chapter floor and a glorious vaulted ceiling. The ceiling
Houses frescoes depict Philosophy, Grammar, Rhetoric,
On display here is Dialectics, Music, Geometry, Astrology, and
Charles V' s portable
altar. Magnificent Theology. The wooden shelving was designed
ceiling frescoes by Juan de Herrera (1530-97) On the four
portray monarchs main pi liars are portraits of the royal house
and angels. of H absburg-C arlos I (Em per or Chari es V),
Felipe II, Felipe Ill, and Carlos II.
Monastery
Founded in 1567,
this has been run THE PANTHEONS
by Augustinian Directly beneath the high altar of the basilica is
monks si nee 1885. the Royal Pantheon, where almost all Spanish
monarchs since Carlos I have been laid to rest.
Adorned with black marble, red jasper, and
ltali an gi It bronze decorations, it was finished
in 16 54. Kings lie on the left of the altar and
queens on the right The most recent addition
to the pantheon was the mother of Juan
Carlos I in 2000. Of the eight other pantheons,
one of the most notable is that of Juan de
Austria, Felipe ll's half-brother, who became a
hero after defeating the Turks at the Battle of
Lepanto in 1571 . AI so worth seeing is La Tarta,
a white marble polygonal tomb resembling a
cake, where royal children are buried.

THE BASILICA
Historically, only the aristocracy were permitted
..
• " .. II to enter the basilica, and the townspeople
Jl
were confined to the vestibule at the entrance .
The basilica contains 4 5 altars. Among its
highlights is the exquisite statue of Christ
l Entrance to Patio de los Reyes ~ The Glory of the Crucified ( 1562) in Carrara marble by the ltal ian
basilica only Spanish Monarchy, sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. It is found in the
by luca Giordano
This beautiful fresco, above chapel to the left of the entrance, with steps
the main staircase, depicts leading up to it On either side of the high
Charles V and Felipe II, and altar, above the doors leading to the Royal
scenes of the building of
KEY DATES Apartments, are fine gilded bronze cenotaphs
the monastery.
1563 1581 1654 1984 of Charles V and Felipe II worshiping with their
families. The enormous altarpiece was designed
The foundation W:>rk on the The Royal Pantheon El Escorial is added by Juan de Herrera with colored marble, jasper,
stone of the basilica is finished. is completed. to UNESCO's World
monastery is laid. Heritage Site list. gilt-bronze sculptures, and paintings. The
central tabernacle took seven years to craft