Today we went to El Escorial.
El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which is a bout 20 minutes northwest of Madrid. It is one of Spain's royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school.
Phillip II commissioned Juan Bautista de Toledo to design El Escorial with him in the 16th century. Phillip II ended up spending a good deal of his time here, although unfortunately his wide died before she was ever able to live in the palace. His daughter ended up residing in the "queen's quarters" of the house. In these times kings and queens did not sleep in the same room or bed at night. In fact, they had their own complete living quarters!
El Escorial is not only a palace, but is also a school and monastery. Additionally there is an AMAZING basilica/cathedral inside the palace with the most amazing altar. The central part of the palace is the living quarters and cathedral, to the left is the school (which still functions today) and to the right is the monastery (which likewise still operates at present).
My favorite thing at El Escorial however, and in all of Spain so far, is the Pantheon. This is below the the altar in the basillica/cathedral and is were all but two of Spain's rulers since Phillip II and their wive's and in one case a queen and her husband, are buried. There are these giant like decorative caskets/tombs that line the walls and inside are the bones and ashes of the rulers and their wives/husbands. There are two "Rotting Rooms" downstairs as well. When a king dies, the body is kept in the rotting room for about 60 years until all that is left is ash and bone. Then the ash and bone is placed in a box that is placed inside of the decorative casket/tomb. There are currently 3 bodies in the rotting room. The wife of a ruler who is already buried, and Spain's last king, or who would have been king and his wife, has Franco not come along. You can't smell anything though! One body has been in there for over 30 years! The other two for 15 and 10 years!
Unfortunately you were not allowed to take pictures inside El Escorial, but I do have outside pictures and one shot of the basilica/cathedral that I got before they told us no cameras!
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