Manzanares El Real Castle - Valley of the Fallen - Monastery El Escorial

Route: Madrid - Manzanares El Real Castle - Valley of the Fallen - Monastery El Escorial - Madrid
Duration: 6 h
Our first stop in this tour will be at Manzanares El Real Castle. The Castle has a square base with cylindrical towers on the corners, except on the southeast angle, where the Torre del Homenaje (keep) is placed. On its eastern side, there is a secondary attached body with a rectangular base which includes the apse of the old church.The Castle with its beautiful half-pointed arched windows consists of an inner court and two galleries on octagonal columns. The building has four towers decorated with “isabelino”-style balls in the higher parts. On the south part of the Castle’s top defense ring, the gallery is of flamboyant design built on balustrades decorated with diamond-pointed stones. The entire Castle is surrounded by a lower outside wall of which the loop-holes carry the cross of the Holy Grail of Jerusalem sculptured in bas-relief. Don Pedro González de Mendoza (adviser of the Catholic Monarchs, Cardinal of Spain and brother of D. Diego Hurtado de Mendoza) used this title. The Castle has an inner court with columns, a basement and six floors: ground floor, first floor in-between, main floor, second floor in-between, high- gallery and roof-gallery. The first floor´s Gothic Gallery is considered the most beautiful in Spain. The Castle is still a property of the Duke of Infantado . Neчt we will drive to Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen). The Valley of the Fallen is a monument built as a memorial of those who died during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Located in a beautiful valley in the Mountains of Guadarrama, the impressive work has a colossal cross over 150 mts. high, and the Basilic and Crypt excavated in the hard rock under the mountain. This tours includes the entrance to the Valley and the visit inside the Basilic. The last stop will be at El Escorial which is a Spain’s grandest UNESCO-listed sites. During the visit  you will introduction to this 16th century Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a former royal residence, monastery and necropolis. Learn about the succession of Spanish kings over the last 500 years, including the Bourbons and influential Hapsburgs. Visit the magnificent tombs of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, along with a succession of kings and queens of Spain in the Royal Pantheon. Visit the Courtyard of Kings, explore the Basilica, tour the Royal Palace and admire the magnificent Library and frescoed Hall of Battles. After that we will return to Madrid.
Price: Per person