Valle de los Caidos

Near El Escorial is another, much more controversial monument, Valle de los Caidos or The Valley of the Fallen.  A monument to those who died in the civil war, the building took 18 years and a huge amount of manpower.  The controversial part comes with how it happened.  A lot of the people who carried out the dangerous construction were political prisoners, and the dictator who ran the country for many years is buried here.  Half the country seems to recall Franco fondly, while the rest, especially the teachers at my school, avoid this place like the plague and consider it fascist architecture.

I can't say that I fully understand all the points of view involved or know the full history of Franco's reign as dictator over Spain, so I'll keep the rest of this entry focused on the monument itself.  It's amazing.  At first glance, the centerpiece obviously seems to be the 500ft ornate cross at the top of a rocky mountain, which can be seen from a great distance above the trees.  When you get in a bit closer, you can see the esplanade, which is basically a large square, and a pair of long, open-arched corridors that center in a wooden door at the base of the mountain.

What really shocked me was the basilica behind the doors.  You enter into the mountain and see a huge and wide church inside, maybe 15 stories tall if not higher.  Seeing the smooth, columned walls and knowing the rocky outcroppings that hide this conflicting interior was pretty crazy.  Unfortunately, this was another place that doesn't allow photos inside, much to my camera trigger finger's disappointment.

But let me just say that it was massive inside.  And added to that, as we walked down the great hall to the dome, there was the faint echo of Latin choir music that slowly grew louder as we approached.  Inside the dome, it echoed around the walls mysteriously, no source to be found, but H had mentioned before we went inside that they train a choir of children in an abbey near the top of the mountain at the cross.  We could only assume that practice was taking place in one of the above chambers.

H also told me that one of his friends, who we had met at lunch, had gotten married here, and that unlike at El Escorial, there wasn't a big waiting list for the use of the building, despite its grandness.  I guess most people don't want a lot of their guests feeling nervous about being in the monument, or not going to the wedding because of the location.

After the visit, we went around the back closer to the church and saw some of the abbey as well as the sports field the kids play on.  Apparently there's a boarding school up at the top as well, where a lot of kids stay (and are in the choir, I would assume).  But with no cell phone reception and no nearby town, I'm guessing it's a pretty quiet place to grow up, despite what people may say about it.