El Escorial & Valle de los Caidos

In the words of my friend who posted the picture..."Pat being a dork."

A couple weekends ago a my friend, Anna, and I caught a bus to El Escorial and its neighboring Valley of the Fallen. The town is just 30 miles northwest of Madrid and well worth the trip. Here are a couple photos and some history on the sites...


In the front courtyard of the Monestario in El Escorial.


(Didn't take this one myself, but the views are incredible.)
The monestary was commissioned by Philip II of Spain in 1559, at the onset of his reign (1556-1598) in reaction to the tide of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Interesting, during the 16th and 17th centuries, the monestary and was a place 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. El Escorial was, at once, a monastery AND a Spanish royal palace (Wikipedia)."


Valley of the Fallen. Franco commissioned the construction of the monument and the Catholic basilica at its base at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1937-1939) to commemorate the fallen. Some 40,000 are buried beneath the valley floor. The site is still somewhat controversial however...

Although the valley contains Nationalist and Republican graves, the tone of the monument is distinctly Nationalist and anti-Communist; the supposed balance is rather upset by the inscription "¡Caídos por Dios y por España!" (to "those who fell for God and for Spain"); few of those who fought and died on the Republican side would have said they did so "for God". Additionally, Franco's timing of his announcement of the decision to create the monument left no doubts: on 1 April 1940, the day of the victory parade to celebrate the first anniversary of his triumph over the Republic, Franco announced his personal decision to raise a splendid monument to those who had fallen in his cause (Wikipedia).

A few other fun facts about the site:
-The cross is the tallest memorial cross in the world, rising 152.4 meters.
-Pope John XXIII declared the underground crypt a basilica in 1960, but because the dimensions of the basilica, as excaveted, are larger than those of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome a partitioning wall was built inside the entranceway and left unconsecrated to avoid competition.
-The site's 18 year construction was completed by some 14,000 convicts and political prisoners.

Madrid 12-oct-07

I've now been in Madrid over a month and have loved it! The language is starting to come easier now speaking and I am able to understand most Spaniards. I definately have a long way to go but I feel comfortable in everyday conversation now.

Classes began last week, so I have been sitting in on quite a few business and political science courses to try to find interesting professors. After two weeks I finally have a schedule I like! I'll be taking three classes in the business faculty, which are all fifth year courses and should count toward my major. In the political science and sociology faculty I'm taking two classes in subjects I find far more interesting...Political and Social Geography is the first and Sociology of Religion is the second. The work load for the political science courses will be a bit heavy, but I think I'll enjoy the subject matter.

Outside of school, I am teaching english several hours during the week to make a little spending money and with no classes on Friday's I am enjoying the nightlife too! Here are a few pictures from this week!


With firends Andrea and Inma at an international night!





The whole gang. We celebrated the birthday of one of my roommates a few nights ago with a surprise party. When Pepi got home from work everyone started giving her a hard time for not telling us it was her birthday, then after she retreated to her room (crying, oops!), we decorated the corridor, filled the table with food, and lit a bunch of candles for her. Needless to say she was a little taken aback (and began crying once again) and enjoyed the night.


After a few liters of beer and a bottle of champagne in the flat, we headed to a bar nearby to keep the party alive! This was on the way back.

Toledo

In the same weekend I ventured to El Escorial, I took a trip to Toledo, another city just outside of Madrid. Here are a few photos...


Left to Right: Patrick, Cervantes, Sue


Toledo!



An art gallery inside of the Cathedral of Toledo. The paintings along the left and rand-hand side walls were done by El Greco, who was commissioned to paint the 12 disciples. It is said that El Greco chose the faces of the disciples as those of people he saw leave the insane asylum in Toledo.


The alterpeice in the Cathedral of Toledo. Scenes from the life of Jesus rise from the bottom to top, beginning with his birth and ending with his crucifixion. Interesting, each scene consists of statues construed by several renowned arquitects, sculpturers, and painters of the time, rather than paintings, as was common.


Toledo panorama!