The ​Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial commonly known as ​El Escorial is a historical residence
of the King of Spain​, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial​, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital,
Madrid​, in Spain​. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, basilica, royal palace,
pantheon, library, museum, university and hospital.
El Escorial is situated at the foot of Mt. Abantos in the Sierra de Guadarrama​. This _________ location, not
an obvious choice for the site of a royal palace, was chosen by King Philip II of Spain, and it was he who
ordered the building to _____________ the 1557 Spanish victory at the Battle of St. Quentin against ​France.
He also intended the monument to serve as a necropolis for the __________of the remains of his parents,
Charles I​ and​ Isabella of Portugal​, himself, and his descendants.
The building's began to be constructed on 23 April 1563. The design and construction were supervised by
Juan Bautista de Toledo​, who did not live to see the completion of the project. With Toledo's death in 1567,
direction passed to his apprentice, Juan de Herrera​, under whom the building was completed in 1584, in
less than 21 years. Since then, El Escorial has been the burial site for most of the Spanish kings of the last
five centuries,​ Bourbons​ as well as​ Habsburgs​.
The floor plan of the building is in the form of a _________. The traditional belief is that this design was
chosen in honor of St. Lawrence​, who, in the third century AD, a ________ burnt to death on a grill. St.
Lawrence’s feast day is 10 August, the same date as the 1557 Battle of St. Quentin won by Philip II.
Built primarily from local _________, square and shortly decorated, El Escorial is austere, even
___________, in its external appearance, seeming more like a _________ than a monastery or palace. It
takes the form of a gigantic quadrangle, approximately 207 m by 153 m, which encloses a series of
connecting corridors and patios and chambers. At each of the four corners is a square tower crowned by a
spire, and, near the center of the building (and taller than the rest) rise the pointed __________ and round
dome of the basilica. Philip's instructions to Toledo were simple and clear, directing that the architects
should produce "simplicity in the construction, severity in the whole, nobility without arrogance, majesty
without __________."
Aside from its initial purposes, the monument is also an enormous ___________ of art. It displays
masterworks by Titian​, Tintoretto​, El Greco​, Velázquez​, ​Claudio Coello and others.The library contains
thousands of priceless​ manuscripts​.
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1.​ Interment
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2. Forbidding
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b. To bury a person
​ 3. ​ Fortress
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c. Unfriendly and likely to be unpleasant
4. Commemorate
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6. Grill
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7. Granite ​
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​ 9. Luxury
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f. To remember officially and give respect to a great
person or event, especially by a public ceremony or by
making a statue or special building
h. A piece of equipment with a metal frame for cooking
food over a fire outdoors
i. A very hard, grey rock, used for building.
10.
​ Storehouse
​ 11. Martyr
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e. A large, strong building that can be defended from
attack
g. A place to keep something to use later.
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​ Campanile
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d. A tall tower that has a bell in it.
​5. Austere
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​ a. A person who suffers very much or is killed because of
their religious or political beliefs, and is often admired
because of it.
j. Very expensive and beautiful things
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k. Very simple and without comfort or unnecessary things.
After filling the gaps, answer to these questions:
1.- Why was El Escorial built?
2.- Who were in charge of it?
3.- Why does the monument has it floor plan shape?
4.- Which example of the Spanish Renaissance does this building represent? Why?