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El Escorial

Palaces and Aristocratic Residences

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The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, usually called El Escorial, is a historical residence of the king of Spain in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometers northwest of Madrid. Built between 1563 and 1584 on the order of King Philip II, it is the largest Renaissance building in the world and functions at once as monastery, basilica, royal palace, pantheon, library, museum, university, school and hospital.

Cross-Tradition Connections

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Juan de Herrera's severe granite palace-monastery for Philip II, 1563 to 1584, is the namesake and defining work of Herrerian architecture.

A Renaissance-era landmark.

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