The Portland daily press., 1879-07-15
The Escurial.
De Amici's Visit to the Convent
and BaSilica.
Translated for the Press.

Translated for the Press.l
Before leaving for Andalusia, went to
see the famous convent of the Escurial the
eighth wonder of the world, the grandest
pile of granite on the earth; and if you wish
more glowing description, imagine it,
you will find none which have not been
already applied.
left Madrid early in the morning The
village of the Escurial which gives its name
to the convent, is eight miles from the city,
and short distance from Guadaizama, and
the road traverses a dry and barren country,
shut in at the horizon by mountains covered
with snow.
When I reached the station of the Escurial
cold, piercing rain was falling. From the
station to the village there is more than hall
a mile of ascent. l climbed into an omni-
bus and in a few moments was landed in q
solitary street, hemmed in on our left by the
convent, and on our right by the houses of
the village and shut in, in the distance by
the mountains.
AT the first glance one comprehends moth
ing; we think we see building, we see a
city; we cannot tell whether we are in the
convent, or still outside; we see walls every
where. We advance, we find ourselves in a
we have not entered yet, but already the
convent envelops us; we have lost our reck-
oning and know not which way to turn.
The first impression is gloomy; the whole
edifice is of stone the color of the earth, and
all the first courses are marked with white
lines, the roofs are covered with lead. One
would say that it was built of earth, the
walls are very high and bare and pierced by
numberless windows which have the effect
of barbicans.
The place, fount, colors, all seem to have
been chosen designedly by the founder to
offer to the eyes gloomy and solemn spec
tacle.
Before entering you have lost your gaiety-
your smile is gone, you think, you stop at
the door of the Escurial with sort of terror
as if entering dead city; and it seems that
if the horrors of the Inquisition reign still in
any corner of the globe it ought to be found
within these walls-here we ought to see its
last trace and hear its last echo.
| Everyone knows that the basilica and the
| convent of the Escurial were founded by
Philip III. after the battle of Saint Quentin
to fulfil a vow made to Saint Laurence dur
ing the siege, when the besiegers had been
compelled to cannOnade church consecrated
to that saint. Don Juan Batista of Soledo
| poplponpaa1 t1,.a wprl- Tarroro oil bo
structure twenty-one years after. Philip
H. wished that the ediice should have the
| form of q gridiron, in memory of the mar
! tyrdom of Saint Laurence, and such in
effect is its form. The plan is a rectangular
parallelogram. At the four angles rise four
| great square towers with pointed roofs,
which represent the four feet of the gridiron
the church and the royal palace which stretch
out on one side, represent the handle; the
| interior buildings which unite the two long
sides take the place of the cross bars.
| Other buildings, still smaller, are built out
side the parallelogram, little distance
| from the convent, on one of the long sides
and one of the short, and form two grand
| squares (pldzds); on the two other sides are
| gardens. Facades, doors, vestibules, all is
in harmony with the grardeur and the char
acter of the edifice; it is useless to pile de-
scriptions upon descriptions The royal pal
ace is splendid, and in order not to mingle
| afterward dissimilar impressions one ought
| to see it before entering the convent and
church. The palace occupies the northeast
angle of the edifice. Some of the rooms are
| filled with pictures, others are hung from
| pavement to arch with tapestries which rep
resent the bull fights, popular dances, plays,
| fetes, Spanish costumes designed by Coca
| others are ornamented and furnished mag
nificently-pavements, doors and windows
| covered with marvellous works of mosaic
and dazzling gliding.
Among other rooms that of Philip III. is
| remarkable. 1t is bare and sombre, COM
municating by an alcove with the royal ora
| tory of the church in such manner that
from the bed on opening the doors one could
see the priest who was saying mass. Philip
| H. occupied this room-and died there.
| We see the chairs which he used, two little
| benches on which he rested his gouty limb,