Like most of Spain, the Province of Madrid is cluttered with palaces, ancient towns and villages, most of which can easily be visited from Madrid. One of the most imposing of these is El Escorial, a magnificent, if broodingly sombre and austere, monastery come palace come final resting place of many of Spain’s Kings and Queens.
The palace, built during the reign of Felipe II, was completed in 1584 and is named in honour of San Lorenzo, on whose saint’s day Felipe II’s armies defeated the French in the battle of St Quentin, in Flanders.
In many ways the palace reflects the style of the man who commissioned it. Felipe II has the dubious honour of being in charge at the height of Spain’s imperial glory and it is arguable that during his reign too the seed of terminal decline were planted, watered by the rivers of unconquerable arrogance.
Just look at the statistics: the palace is built of grey granite, measures 208 x 162 metres (683 x 531 ft), has 13 oratories, 16 patios, 15 cloisters, it has 300 cells that were used by the monks of the Order of St. Jeronimo, who populated its 86 stairways and 9 towers. It is questionable whether any of them managed to look out of all 2,673 windows. Not only does El Escorial hold a treasure trove of works of art, it also has a library that holds the largest collection of Arabic manuscripts in the world.
To the south of the city of Madrid and within easy is the beautifully preserved historic town of Chinchón, whose main square, or Plaza Mayor, has been used for bullfights since the early 1500’s and whose buildings retain much of its middle age charm and grace.
The university town of Alcalá de Henares lies to the east of Madrid and, although its approach from there is not very attractive due to extensive building and development projects, Alcalá is well worth of visit to see the old university buildings and churches that comprise the town center.
The university was founded in 1508 by Cardinal Fransisco de Cisneros and boasts some of the finest examples of the Plateresque style of architecture in the country.
To the north of Madrid lies the Sierra de Guaderrama, the highest peak of which reaches over 2,300 metres (8,000 feet) and retains its snow cover until the early days of summer.
Here, even this close to one of the busiest and modern cities in the world, it is still possible to see traces of traditional Spain unchanged by the passage of time as shepherds tend their flocks, effortlessly weaving the old ways with the new.
Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos, or the Valley of the Fallen, is located between El Escorial and Madrid, and is an enduring memorial to those who fought and died in Spain’s internecine Civil War that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939.
It can be a chilling experience as you walk around the grey granite mausoleum and reflect that it was built by thousands of Republican prisoners between 1940 and 1958, a stark reminder of those dark events and of the subsequent dictatorship that lasted for over 40 years.
It is, however, at the same time, an engineering testament to the ingenuity of the human animal. Fransisco Franco, the last Spanish Dictator, who died in 1975, is buried here. It is also the last resting place of over 40,000 Republican and Nationalist soldiers killed during the war, their tomb marked by a cross that soars 135 metres (450 feet) into the air.
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Like most of Spain, the Province of Madrid is cluttered with palaces, ancient towns and villages, most of which can easily be visited from Madrid. One of the most imposing of these is El Escorial, a magnificent, if broodingly sombre and austere, monastery come palace come final resting place of many of Spain’s Kings and Queens.
Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos, or the Valley of the Fallen, is located between El Escorial and Madrid, and is an enduring memorial to those who fought and died in Spain’s internecine Civil War that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939. 
