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Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial

Listed under Churches & Abbeys in Madrid Region, Spain.

'This huge granite fortress houses a wealth of paintings and tapestries and also serves as a burial place for Spanish kings. Foreboding both inside and out because of its sheer size and institutional look, El Escorial took 21 years to complete, a remarkably short time considering the bulk of the building and the primitive construction methods of the day.'

Frommer's.

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Is there a directory of Library items available?

Latin text (XVth century)beginning: "Incipit officium imaculate conceptionis marie ..."

Question posted 8th August 2009 by Esther Cavanagh.

Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid

Built at the end of the 16th century on a plan in the form of a grill, the instrument of the martyrdom of St Lawrence, the Escurial Monastery stands in an exceptionally beautiful site in Castile. Its austere architecture, a break with previous styles, had a considerable influence on Spanish architecture for more than half a century. It was the retreat of a mystic king and became, in the last years of Philip II's reign, the centre of the greatest political power of the time.

Review posted 7th December 2007 by World Reviewer Staff.

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Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial