Felipe II ordered the construction of this forbidding stone edifice in 1563, 2 years after he moved his capital to Madrid. After the death of the original architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo, it was completed by Juan de Herrera, considered the greatest architect of Renaissance Spain. It took 21 years to build. It must have been a marvel of modernity in its day, and its scale is staggering. Built in granite around a huge quadrangle, it has 2,675 windows and 24km (15 miles) of corridors. The overall effect from the outside is prisonlike; “cold as the grey eye and granite heart of its founder,” according to Richard Ford, the great 19th-century writer on Spain.
Once inside, it is worth investing in the audio-guide, but the endless procession of rooms makes a full guided tour feel like hard work. The palace is nonetheless fascinating, and it’s worth taking your time. The most intimate and interesting rooms are the Salones Reales (Royal Apartments) from where Felipe II ran half the world with scribbled notes of paper. You can see his modest desk and clock, and the tiny bed where he would rest his gouty leg, positioned so he could watch through a window as mass was celebrated in the basilica, which sits at the center of the complex. The basilica has 43 altars beneath a dome that emulates St. Peter’s in Rome, on which Juan Bautista de Toledo is thought to have cut his architectural teeth. Below it is the Panteón de los Reyes, which holds the tombs of a dozen Spanish monarchs. Felipe II built the El Escorial as a burial place for his father, the Holy Roman Emperor, Carlos V, but the gilt and marble bling of the crypt was completed by Felipe IV in the 17th century.
The palace is full of art treasures, although many of the greatest paintings have been moved to the Prado. Highlights in the Nuevos Museos galleries include Titian’s Last Supper, El Greco’s Martyrdom of St. Maurice, and Velázquez’s La Tunica de José. The Hall of Battles is decorated with meticulous frescoes detailing Spanish military victories, and the vaulted ceiling of the magnificent Library is painted with allegorical scenes depicting the liberal arts and sciences. Room after room is bordered in the beautiful blue and white azulejos (ceramic tiles) made in Talavera la Reina. Toward the end of the tour you reach the Palacio de los Borbones, where the style changes completely. The first Bourbon king, Felipe V, imported Versailles-style furnishings and dressed the cold, stone walls with tapestries designed by Goya. But the Bourbons never spent much time here—austerity wasn’t their thing.