Northern Madrid city, as seen from El Escorial

The Catalan architect Oriol Bohigas once published an article titled “Uglier than El Escorial”, in which he criticized (to a degree to which I could partially agree) the aesthetics of this cerebral research on perfection in architecture as derived from the sacred books and the intent to reproduce the temple of Solomon, which results in a rough architectural experiences when compared with other European royal palaces. Its inception as a monastry surely helps explain that… El Escorial is today quite a touristic village, but the Palace still is a cerebral, austere building. On a good day the skyline of Madrid can be seen on the background…

Main street