El Escorial
Monastery and Site of the Escorial,
Madrid*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party
Spain
Type
Cultural
Criteria
i, ii, vi
Reference
318
Region**
Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription
1984 (8th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.
El Escorial is an historical residence of the
king of Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal
sites and functions as a monastery, royal
palace, museum, and school. It is located
about 45 kilometres (28 miles) northwest of
the Spanish capital, Madrid, in the town of
San Lorenzo de El Escorial. El Escorial com-
prises two architectural complexes of great
historical and cultural significance: El Real
Monasterio de El Escorial
itself and La
Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting
lodge and monastic retreat about five kilo-
metres away. These sites have a dual nature;
that is to say, during the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, they were places in which
the temporal power of the Spanish monarchy
and the ecclesiastical predominance of the
Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a
common architectural manifestation.[1] El
Escorial was, at once, a monastery and a
Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of
the Hieronymite monks,
it
is now an
Augustinian monastery.
Philip II of Spain, reacting to the Protest-
ant Reformation sweeping through Europe
during the sixteenth century, devoted much
of his lengthy reign (1556-1598) and much of
his seemingly inexhaustible supply of New
World gold to stemming the Protestant tide.
His protracted efforts were, in the long run,
partly
successful.
However,
the
same
counter-reformational impulse had a much
more benign expression, thirty years earlier,
in Philip’s decision to build the complex at El
Escorial.
Façade of the Monastery of El Escorial
Philip engaged the Spanish architect, Juan
Bautista de Toledo, to be his collaborator in
the design of El Escorial. Juan Bautista had
spent the greater part of his career in Rome,
where he had worked on the basilica of St.
Peter’s,