San Lorenzo de El Escorial Guided Tour

On this tour, which lasts about 2 hours, you will visit the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The monastery is one of Spain's most important tourist attractions, with around half a million visitors a year. Thanks to an expert guide, you will also learn many interesting facts about the history and architecture of the building.

The monastery was built by order of Philip II, King of Spain, between 1563 and 1584, to commemorate the victory over the French at the Battle of San Quintín on Saint Lawrence's Day in 1557. It is located on the southern slope of Mount Abantos, at an altitude of 1028 metres, in the Guadarrama mountain range, which gives it great scenic value. Since 1984, the monastery has been on the World Heritage List.

The building covers an area of 33,327 square metres, and is considered a museum in itself, due to the enormous amount of paintings, sculptures and artistic works of all kinds that are kept inside. The main rooms you will visit during your visit are as follows:

• Basilica: Place of worship of the former kings of Spain. This room is the true nucleus of the monastery complex, as the other rooms are built around it.

• Hall of Battles: This is a gallery measuring 60 x 6 metres, 8 metres high, located in the area of the royal apartments. It contains frescoed paintings of battles won by the Spanish armies.

• Palace of Philip II: Also known as the Palace of the Habsburgs. It was the private quarters of the kings of Spain. Nowadays, it has important pictorial works of different European schools of painting, such as Spanish, Flemish and Italian.

• Royal Library: It is located in a large nave with marble floors and richly carved hardwood shelves. It houses nearly 50,000 volumes, including manuscripts and printed copies.

This is a visit to one of the most visited and best-known monuments in Spain that will not disappoint you. Full of art, architecture and history, this is an ideal activity for culture lovers.