El Escorial was built at the height of Spain’s Golden Age ... Philip II dreamt of building a monastery far from Madrid. His vision took 21 years to complete and involved two pioneering ...

Philip II, Hapsburg heir to the entire peninsula, built El Escorial, near Madrid ... monastic revolution swept all Spain. Poblet’s monks fled, leaving the monastery to live on in a sort of ...

Here are the top 10 small towns near Madrid, where rural beauty and history come alive. San Lorenzo de El Escorial is renowned for one of Spain's most impressive monuments: the Monastery of El ...