2 stops in walking order

City

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Arriba, is a town and municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located to the northwest of the region in the southeastern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama, at the foot of Mount Abantos and Las Machotas, 47 kilometres (29 mi) from Madrid. It is head of the eponymous judicial party. The settlement is popularly called El Escorial de Arriba, to differentiate it from the neighbouring village of El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Abajo. The Monastery of El Escorial is the most prominent building in the town and is one of the main Spanish Renaissance monuments. Especially remarkable is the Royal Library, inside the Monastery. The monastery and its historic surroundings were declared a World Heritage Site UNESCO on November 2, 1984, under the name of "El Escorial, monastery and site". The site also enjoys protection on Spain's heritage register; since June 21, 2006, it has been protected by the Community of Madrid as a Property of Cultural Interest. San Lorenzo de El Escorial is located on the southern slopes of the Mount Abantos (elevation 1753 m).

~20 min at this stop

Monastery

The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also called Monasterio de El Escorial or simply El Escorial, is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 2.06 kilometres (1.28 mi) up the valley (4.1 km road distance) from the town of El Escorial and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the Spanish capital Madrid. Built between 1563 and 1584 by order of King Philip II (who reigned 1556–1598), El Escorial is the largest Renaissance building in the world. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, basilica, royal palace, pantheon, library, museum, university, school, and hospital. El Escorial consists of two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: the royal monastery itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometres (3.1 mi) away. These sites have a dual nature: during the 16th and 17th centuries, they were places in which the power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was both a Spanish royal palace and a monastery. Established with a community of Hieronymite monks, it has become a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine. It also contained a boarding school, now the Real Colegio de Alfonso XII, still in o

~20 min at this stop