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| City Guide - Madrid - Excursions | ||
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Excursions For a Half Day Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial: The monastery lies just 50km (31 miles) northwest of Madrid in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The extraordinary rectangular edifice with four spired towers was built by Philip II as a memorial to his father, Charles V, and merges monastery, church and palace. It contains Philip's secret stash of El Greco and Hieronymus Bosch art, and a library with about 50,000 volumes and a vaulted, painted ceiling. Trains depart from Atocha and Charmartín stations to El Escorial, from where a two-minute bus trip leads to the monastery; buses also leave from outside Metro Moncloa (in Madrid) directly to El Escorial monastery. The road route is along the NVI motorway to Guadarrama, turning off on the M600. The monastery is open Tuesday to Sunday 1000-1700. Admission costs Pta500. Tourist Office: Floridablanca, 10 (tel: (91) 542 0059). For a Whole Day Toledo: Often described as the 'soul of Spain', Toledo lies 70km (43 miles) south of Madrid, easily reached by bus (from Estación Sur de Autobuses), car (along the N401) or train (from Atocha station). The capital of Visigoth Spain (AD567-711), Toledo was famously depicted in the dramatic cityscape by El Greco (painted in 1597 and currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York). The Crete-born painter, Domenikos Theotocopoulos - whose Spanish appellation El Greco has stuck - settled in Toledo in 1577 and remained until there his death in 1614. Regarded as the first great genius of the Spanish School, some of his most famous paintings are jealously guarded: El Espolio (Christ Stripped of His Garments) in Toledo Cathedral and The Burial of Count Orgaz in the medieval church of Santo Tomé. The hilltop city is not much changed since its depiction in El Greco's painting, with its golden spires, and heavy Gothic structures, lying across the Tangus Gorge. Mudéjares Muslim, Sephardic Jewish and Mozarabes Christian communities have each contributed to its architectural richness. Visitors should look out for the Moorish gate Puerta de Bisagrai, which allows access to the city; the Sinagoga del Tránsito, built in the 1360s and now a museum to Sephardic culture and the diaspora of the Spanish Jews; and the Gothic convent of San Juan de los Reyes, originally built for Ferdinand and Isabella. For further information, the Toledo Tourist Office, Puerta de Bisagra (tel: (92) 522 0843), can provide further information. |
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