Work / monument · monument

El Escorial

1563–1584 · 16th century · Also known as San Lorenzo de El Escorial

El Escorial is a vast royal monastery and palace north-west of Madrid, built for Philip II of Spain between 1563 and 1584. Designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, it combines a monastery, basilica, royal palace, library and burial place of the Spanish kings in a severe classical style. Its library holds important Arabic manuscripts, including the library of the Saadi sultan Zidan seized at sea in 1612.

El Escorial
Image: Zvonimir Stamenov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Habsburg SpainGovernance

Mentioned in 1 state history

Habsburg Spain

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). El Escorial. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/el-escorial
MLA
“El Escorial.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/el-escorial. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “El Escorial.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/el-escorial.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘El Escorial’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/el-escorial (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻