I visited this "monument" earlier today - err... yesterday (Wednesday) and it was my first time. I'd sort of wanted to see what all the hoo-haa was about and finally I saw it for myself. I have mixed feelings about visiting it in the first place but now I'm glad I did. I thought I'd feel something but I really didn't. The large cross is impressive. Apparently it's the largest in Europe. Fine. The mausoleum/tomb of General Francisco Franco is pretty basic but large, deep, and apart from the underground dome it does certainly have a 1960s or 1970s feel to it.

When we arrived, at about 12:30pm, it was closed because they were clearing some ice from the access road and putting down salt. For this reason we decided to go to the nearby town of El Escorial. I'd been to the monastery before, last summer, so I didn't go back in but others did. Instead, I walked around the town with my buddy Steve, looked over the countless nativities/Belenes, and finally stopped for a drink/coffee and a bowl of sopa de marisco to warm us up. We then met up with the rest of our party and then found a place for a Menú del Día. I had the lentil soup to start and then the lamb steak for the main dish.

Luckily, we'd JUST arrived to get the LAST funicular (required - 2.50€ per person) to get to the top, to the stone cross up top. Then we went back down below to the mausoleum. It's set back into the top of the mountain, underground, and the temperature stays constant, comfortable. You don-t see anything more than your standard cathedral interior but also the flat panels of Franco AND Primo de Rivera on the ground.

All in all, I'd say the experience, the visit was worth it. Is it worth a daytrip from Madrid, by bus? I'd say no. But we had a car and so it was easy and could walk around El Escorial a bit too. That was nice.

I didn't feel that it was your typical church or cathedral. Knowing what I know about General Francisco Franco and what happened with his part in the Spanish Civil War and his subsequent 40-year dictatorship I didn't feel it was really a religious place. I had mixed feelings but was glad to see it all for myself.

Saludos, MadridMan

MadridMan,

I'm really surprised you opened this post back up, reading the comments.

I visited this site a long time ago, and I must have been unimpressed because I remember almost nothing about the great boogeyman's burial place. But then I wasn't very knowledgeable about Spanish history back then. I had no idea what their civil war was all about. We were told at the time, the late 70's, that it was a very sensitive subject for many Spaniards, but none of my American friends knew much about the war.

America really is isolated from world events.

Hi gazpacho!

I didn't want to open it as a new thread since one already existed - albeit from NEARLY 7 years ago.

You can also read more detail about this on today's blog entry, " El Escorial - Valle de los Caidos ".

What a lovely image!!