Monastery of San Lorenzo - San Lorenzo de El Escorial - Things To Do Reviews

San Lorenzo de El Escorial is still a working monastery today, but it has historically been much more. King Philip II ordered it constructed in the 16th century as a mausoleum for his parents, the Emperor Charles V (a.k.a. Carlos I of Spain) and Isabel of Portugal. Ever since then, it has been the favored burial site of nearly all members of Spain's royal family, all the way up to Juan de Borbon, father of the current king. The resting place of the Spanish royals, the Panteon de los Reyes (Pantheon of Kings), is part of the complex open to tourists.

Inseparable from the mausoleum and monastery was Philip II's personal palace. Since so much of El Escorial was envisioned by Philip II, the complex gives great insight into the life of this ruler. The rooms of the palace are simple and austere, as fit Philip's attitude toward his office. He had no crown and refused to be called "your majesty." Although there is a nice collection of paintings from Philip II's time, there are no great Renaissance marvels here, nor are there any Baroque flights of fancy. All the decoration was reserved for the church buildings.

For me, the most memorable room of the palace was the map room, indicative of Philip II's character. The classical image of Philip II was of a man dressed in black, sitting at a desk (preserved here), poring over information gathered from all over his empire, which included not only Spain, but also Italy, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines. Seeing the walls of this room covered with highly detailed, 16th-century maps of places like Japan might be surprising at first, but it's important to remember that Philip ruled a global empire, and was prone to micro-management.

San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a magnificent memorial to Spain's golden age. From its globe-spanning empire to its internalized religiosity, this impressive complex is a capsule of the time when Spain was the world's greatest power, and a portrait in stone of one man who ruled it.