Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-03-11
The Escurial.

From the railway station dusty road
leads up to the village of Escorial, as
the Spaniards write it. AT closer sight
the apparent barrenness Of the situation
diminishes. In front of the monastery
are vast plantations of dark green trees;
here and there are villas with gardens !;
the village itself, which from distance
appears mere gray spot on the noun
taiu-slope, proves to be of considerable
extent, and, for Spain, it is neat and
comparatively clean; the square in
front of the town-hall is planted with
flowers, and the inhabitants look less
bcggarly than one would expect. The
fact is that Escorial is q summer resort
for the Madrid people, who go there
with their families to escape the heat Of
the capital. The State itself lets lodg-
ings, and many families hire from the
crown apartments in the interminable
buildings that surround the Real Sitio
DC san Lorenzo, as the Escur;al is ofli
cially called.
All along the main street of the town,
which rises and rises until it ends in
mere path up the mountain-side the vast
rectangular building ofthc dependencies
of the convent palace continue in gay
monotony, block after block, joined to-
gether by galleries and arches that
span the lateral streets leading TO the
central area On chimney of one of
these dependencies may be seen Il
stork's nest, the only feature which dis
tinguishes il from q hundred other
chimneys. Let us turn down this
street, pass under the arch, and here
we are with the gray granite lcviathan
before us. The immensity Oft takes
your breath away; and although the
sun may be shining brilliantly. it looks
sad and funereal with its gray walls
picked out with staring joints Of white
mortar, its leaden roofs, lis granite
paved surroundings, its volcanic aspect.
The impression of something burnt,
blasted, plutonian, Of something that
has passed through raging fire, struck
me time after time as looked upon the
structure. Nor is this idea of fire in
appropriate. The palace-convent itself
is built in the form of a gridiron turned
upside down, and that in memory Of
the patron, Lorenzo, who was broil-
cd by Valcrian on a slow fire, and, ac
cording to Prudentius, bore his martyr
dom with coolness and even jocose
irony. for when one side was roasted
had himself turned, and invited his
cooks to try whether he tasted better
undone or well done.
The plan is n rectangular parallelo
gram. At the four corners are towers
with pointed roofs, which represent
the feet of the gridiron; the church and
the royal palace, which jut out on one
facade, form the handle; the interior
buildings, which unite together the
two longer sides, form the crossbars
On two sides there are gardens, and on
two other sides vast open spaces, paved
with granite slabs, or strewn with
gravel, marked off by columns and
chains, and further bounded by the i'm
mense dependencies which shut off the
view of the Escurial from the village.
After the pyramids, this is the hugest
pile of granite that the hand Of man
has constructed. Facades, doors, YES
tibules, domes, towers, all are in har-
mony with the grandeur and phara-
onic character of the cdiiice. Even
the gardens are sombre and austere,
for they consist exclusively of foun
tains surrounded by box-trees cut
in geometrical and labyrinthine
designs. We must not find fault
with the building because it has
not those qualities which it was never
intended to have. The architect was
ordered to raise a monument on the
plan of a gridion in order to recall the
instrument Of torture on which st. Lau-
renee suffered martyrdom. This strange
interference of hagiography with archi-
lecture is in keeping with the character
of the founder. The vastness fthe vo-
tive monument is in conformity with the
temper of q king upon whose domains
the sun shone 'all the a hours of the
natural day" though we may also say,
with the old Duke of Braganza. "he
who made such a great vow must have
had great fear Furthermore. we must
remember that the accomplishment of
the vow made under the walls of st.
Quentin was strengthened by Phillips
pious desire TO carry out the last wishes
of Charles V, who left to his son the
care of providing fitting burial place
for his dynasty. Thus the Escurial is
at once mausoleum, monastery and
q palace.