Valle de los Caidos and El Escorial, Spain

Valle de los Caidos

Before embarking on our trip to Spain, one of our friends here in Singapore recommended that we visit Valle de los Caidos or "Valley of the Fallen".  "Valley of the Fallen" was General Francisco Franco's memorial to the soldiers that died during the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939.  Work on this memorial, together with the crypt and basilica was started in 1940 and took 18 years to complete.  "Valley of the Fallen" is located about an hour's drive north-west of Madrid, in the Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains.    

Prior to leaving for Spain, I (Sam) did some research on the best way to get to "Vally of the Fallen", so that we could make all the necessary arrangements beforehand.  While doing my research, I learnt that while "Valley of the Fallen" use to be a popular tourist sight, it was also closed indefinitely in 2009 by the Spanish National Heritage Agency, who cited preservation issues as the reason for the closure.  This reason has since been contested by experts and religious parties, but because of Spain's past history and the fact that General Franco is a very controversial figure in Spain, there is a lack of political will to reopen this site.   

While a few tour companies still advertise tours to the "Valley of the Fallen", the majority state that the site is closed and that they no longer offer this option.  That said, I had read that some people had signed up for a "Valley of the Fallen" tour (as advertised), only to be told on the day of their tour that they would not be taken there and instead would be spending more time at El Escorial (the two sites are usually combined in the same tour package).  On the other hand I had also read about people who appeared to have visited the site recently, so there was lots of conflicting information.  

Really wanting to see this monument and not wanting to join a tour with the risk of not being taken there, I finally got hold of a tour company that could provide us with a personal driver to take us to both the "Valley of the Fallen" and nearby El Escorial, but the disclaimer was that they couldn't guarantee us entrance to the "Valley of the Fallen" monument, and the best they could do was try and get us as close to the monument as possible so that we could at least see it.  

Having no expectations that we would even be allowed on the grounds of the monument, we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the gates to the monument grounds and were waived in by the security guards.  When we arrived we were the only ones there, so we parked the car in the visitor's parking area and made our way to the base of the monument.  

    

The most striking feature of this monument is the white cross that has been erected on a granite outcrop.  This cross is so big that it can be seen from as far as 30 kilometres away (we could see it from the highway and already from a distance, the monument made a huge impression).  The cross itself is 500 feet high and 180 feet wide, and it is said to be the tallest freestanding cross in the world. 

 After admiring the cross and taking many photos of the monument, we were told that we could visit the Basilica of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen and the adjoining Crypt.  The most amazing thing about both this basilica and the crypt, is that they are "underground" in the sense that both have been carved/excavated in the rock of the mountain, with the Crypt (tunneled out of solid granite) lying exactly beneath the white cross.  

Equally as amazing and impressive is the size of the basilica (it is hard to tell how big the basilica is from the outside, because all you see is the mountain).  It is recorded that the dimensions of this excavated basilica is even larger than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  To avoid outdoing the famous basilica in the Vatican City, a partitioning wall was built near the inside of the entrance to the Basilica of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen and a large part of the entryway was left unconsecrated, thus making this basilica in theory, smaller than St. Peter's.  

The dimly lit entrance to the basilica, is flanked by two huge art deco angels holding swords and this really sets the tone for the rest of the basilica (felt like we were in a Dan Brown novel!).   We were struck initially by the enormity of the basilica and then by the detail in the ceilings and walls - it really just took our breaths away.  The whole basilica is beautiful and although it had a strange and eerie feel to it, it was at the same time riveting and impressive (how this huge immaculate basilica could be carved out of the mountain is mind-boggling).  We were allowed to walk through the basilica to the crypt, where General Franco is buried.  The centre of the round crypt, is the exact spot where the white cross stands above on the outside.  The 'Valley of the Fallen is also the resting place of Primo de Rivera, another Spanish dictator and over 40,000 Nationalist and Republican soldiers who fought in the war.  

On the other side of the mountain is The Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen.  This abbey is home to Catholic priests, who pray and say perpetual Masses each day for the fallen.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to visit this part of the monument.  

All in all, our visit to the "Valley of the Fallen" was one of the highlights of our trip to Spain and we are so grateful that we got to see more than we expected.  The only disappointing thing about our visit here, was that we were not allowed to take photographs inside the basilica and crypt, so we have no photographs to share.  

After our visit to the "Valley of the Fallen", we headed to El Escorial, another one of Spain's important sights.  

 El Escorial
El Escorial is situated at the southern foothills of the Sierra de Guaddarrama mountains, about 10 kilometres from the "Valley of the Fallen".  El Escorial is the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and it was commissioned by Felipe II as a mausoleum for the tomb of his father,  Carlos I.  The construction of El Escorial began in 1563 and was finally completed in 1595.  The complex comprises a beautiful basilica, a royal palace, a monastery, a seminary, a strolling gallery, a magnificent library, courtyards, gardens and burial chambers.  Needless to say, this granite monument  is not only huge, but also beautiful and impressive on the outside and inside.  We spent about two hours at El Escorial and although we couldn't possibly see everything, we made a point of seeing the most important rooms and sights within the complex.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs inside El Escorial, so we don't have any to share.