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172-521: During this period, Philip II's royal palace, El Escorial , attracted some of Europe's greatest architects and painters, including El Greco . These artists introduced foreign styles to Spanish art, contributing to the development of a uniquely Spanish style of painting. The start of the Golden Age can be placed in 1492, with the end of the Reconquista , the voyages of Christopher Columbus to

344-709: A "peace price" during the many battles of the Spanish Empire with the Ottoman Empire . As part of his active efforts, in 1571 Philip II bought a large portion of the collection of Gonzalo Pérez , one of his advisors. This meant 57 original Greek manuscripts from Sicily, and 112 Latin ones, from Calabria. He also bought 315 original volumes, in Greek and Arabic, from Juan Páez de Castro's personal library. The King charged specific ambassadors with traveling through his empire and neighboring kingdoms searching and buying

516-595: A Spanish composer of the 16th century. He was second only to Victoria as a major Spanish composer of church music in the second half of the 16th century. Of all the Spanish Renaissance composers, he was the one who mostly lived and worked in Spain. Others, e.g., Morales and Victoria, spent large portions of their careers in Italy. Guerrero's music was both religious and secular, unlike that of Victoria and Morales,

688-561: A battle near the city in 193 BCE against a confederation of Celtic tribes, defeating them and capturing a king called Hilermus. At that time, Toletum was a city of the Carpetani tribe in the region of Carpetania . It was incorporated into the Roman Empire as a civitas stipendiaria , (a tributary city of non-citizens) and later a municipium . With this status, city officials obtained Roman citizenship for public service, and

860-524: A circular capilla mayor rather than a semicircular apse, perhaps inspired by Italian ideas for circular 'perfect buildings' (e.g., in Alberti 's works). Within its structure the cathedral combines other orders of architecture. It took 181 years for the cathedral to be built. Subsequent architects included Juan de Maena (1563–1571), followed by Juan de Orea (1571–1590), and Ambrosio de Vico (1590–?). In 1667, Alonso Cano , working with Gaspar de la Peña, altered

1032-416: A comical approach, just as Cervantes did, taking a conventional moral play and dressing it up in good humor and cynicism. His stated goal was to entertain the public, much as Cervantes's was. In bringing morality, comedy, drama, and popular wit together, Lope de Vega is often compared to his English contemporary Shakespeare. Some have argued that as a social critic, Lope de Vega attacked, like Cervantes, many of

1204-606: A copy of every book published inside the empire. During his reign the orders of continuing to search for books for the library were still in place. Arias Montano donated a large number of original Hebrew manuscripts, and Admiral Luis Fajardo brought back the complete Zaydani library captured during his wars with the Sultan Muley Zidán . Toledo, Spain Toledo ( UK : / t ɒ ˈ l eɪ d oʊ / tol- AY -doh ; Spanish: [toˈleðo] )

1376-690: A detour from their advance towards Madrid (which gave the Republicans time to build up the defenses in Madrid and receive early foreign support) and lifted the siege of the Alcázar in late September 1936. The two months of resistance of the garrisoned rebel military would become a core symbol of the mythology built around the Francoist regime and its ideology. In October 1940, Heinrich Himmler , leading Nazi and Chief of German Police, visited Spain on

1548-666: A few minutes every day, a shaft of light shines through, from which this feature of the cathedral derives its name. The Mozarabic Chapel in the Toledo Cathedral still uses the Mozarabic Rite and music. Two notable bridges secured access to Toledo across the Tagus, the Alcántara bridge and the later built San Martín bridge . The Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes is a Franciscan monastery , built 1477–1504, in

1720-509: A great tradition in the manufacturing of swords and knives and a significant production of razor blades, medical devices and electrical products. ( The Toledo Blade , the American newspaper in Toledo's Ohio namesake city, is named in honor of the sword-making tradition.) Soap and toothpaste industries, flour milling, glass and ceramics have also been important. The manufacture of swords in

1892-556: A lasting influence on Western painting. Velázquez's friendship with Bartolomé Esteban Murillo , a leading Spanish painter of the next generation, ensured the enduring influence of his artistic approach. Velázquez's most famous painting is the celebrated Las Meninas (1656, Prado Museum in Madrid) in which the artist includes himself as one of the subjects. The religious element in Spanish art gained prominence in many circles during

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2064-423: A lasting influence on subsequent writers and even on the Spanish language itself. Lope de Vega was a gifted poet of his own, and there were a vast quantity of remarkable poets at that time, though less known: Francisco de Rioja , Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola , Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola , Bernardino de Rebolledo , Rodrigo Caro , and Andrés Rey de Artieda. Another poet was Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz , from

2236-575: A late Gothic college that started in the late 15th century. Before becoming the capital of Spain, Valladolid was not a bishopric and thus lacked the right to build a cathedral. Soon enough, though, the Collegiate became obsolete due to the changes of preference during the period, and thanks to the newly established episcopal in the city, the Town Council decided to build a cathedral that would share similar architecture to neighboring capitals. Had

2408-531: A major tourist destination, attracting visitors from around the world who come to see historic landmarks, such as the Toledo Cathedral, the Alcázar, and the many synagogues and mosques that reflect its diverse cultural past. Toledo hosts numerous cultural events and festivals, such as Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions and the Corpus Christi festival, which draw large crowds and celebrate Castilian Spanish religious and cultural traditions. Toledo has

2580-772: A manuscript of the Concilios visigóticos (the Visigothic Councils ) from the ninth century. Philip acquired several books from the Library of Granada, that belonged to Isabella I of Castile , including her Libro the Horas of astonishing visual beauty. Other valuable libraries acquired by Philip were the library of Pedro Fajardo , and of Antonio Agustín , one of the largest in Spain at the time. Not all of those books are still in El Escorial, since many ended up in

2752-674: A medium between the emotional intensity of Victoria and the technical ability of Palestrina ; the solution he found became the foundation of the Baroque musical style in Spain. Regarded as one of the finest composers in Europe around the middle of the 16th century, Cristóbal de Morales was born in Seville in 1500 and employed in Rome from 1535 until 1545 by the Vatican . Almost all of his music

2924-460: A monastery. Above the center door is a niche where the image of Saint Lawrence has been placed. The Courtyard of the Kings owes its name to the statues of the kings of Judah that adorn the façade of the basilica, located at the east end of the courtyard. Steps of red marble lead to the large, public chapel, past the narthex, which is one of the highlights of the basilica. The basilica has a floor in

3096-582: A monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world. The Plaza Mayor in Madrid, built during the Habsburg period, is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta del Sol . The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing

3268-586: A mural as good as one of Michelangelo's if one of the Italian artist's murals was demolished first. After falling out of favor in Italy, he found a new home in Toledo , central Spain. During this period, Spain was an ideal environment for the Venetian-trained painter, with art flourishing throughout the empire and Toledo being a great place to receive commissions. His paintings of the city became models for

3440-438: A new European tradition in landscapes and influenced the work of later Dutch masters . In his lifetime, El Greco was influential in creating a style based on impressions and emotion, characterized by elongated fingers and vibrant color and brushwork. His works uniquely featured faces that captured expressions of somber attitudes and withdrawal while still having his subjects bear witness to the terrestrial world. Diego Velázquez

3612-493: A new building on the outskirts of the city. This was the beginning of several phases of expansion. Its importance was such that it eventually developed into a city within the city of Toledo. In the 20th century, the production of knives and swords for the army was reduced to cavalry weapons only, and, after the Spanish Civil War, to the supply of swords to the officers and NCOs of the various military units. Following

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3784-485: A pension for the Escorial Library, to ensure that it would still be able to acquire new volumes. Philip III continued his father's policy of protection and enrichment of the library, even though he was not theologically inclined. In addition to continuing the search for, and purchase of, especially valuable and old books, he promulgated a new decree, according to which the library of El Escorial ought to receive

3956-411: A permanent residence befitting an emperor . The project was given to Pedro Machuca , an architect whose biography and influences are poorly understood. Even if accounts that place Machuca in the atelier of Michelangelo are accepted, at the time of the construction of the palace in 1527 the latter had yet to design the majority of his architectural works. At the time, Spanish architecture was immersed in

4128-720: A position which had been held by the Socialists since 2007. The old city is located on a mountaintop with a 150-degree view, surrounded on three sides by a bend in the Tagus River , and contains many historical sites, including the Alcázar , the cathedral (the primate church of Spain), and the Zocodover, a central market place. From the 4th century to the 16th century, about thirty synods were held at Toledo. The earliest, directed against Priscillian , assembled in 400. At

4300-482: A prepared place called a pudridero , or decaying chamber, awaiting interment in the Pantheon of the Kings. With the interment of these remains, all the sepulchres in the pantheon will be filled. No decision has yet been announced as to the final resting place of now-abdicated Juan Carlos, Queen Sofía , Felipe VI , Queen Letizia , and any future monarchs and consorts. There are two pudrideros at El Escorial, one for

4472-559: A remarkable combination of Gothic-Spanish-Flemish style with Mudéjar ornamentation. Toledo was home to El Greco for the latter part of his life, and is the subject of some of his most famous paintings, including The Burial of the Count of Orgaz , exhibited in the Church of Santo Tomé. When Philip II moved the royal court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the old city went into a slow decline from which it never recovered. Toledo has been

4644-533: A traditional sword-making, steel-working centre since about 500 BCE, and came to the attention of Rome when used by Hannibal in the Punic Wars . Soon, it became a standard source of weaponry for Roman legions . Toledo steel was famed for its very high quality alloy , whereas Damascene steel , a competitor from the Middle Ages on, was also famed for a specific metal-working technique. Today there

4816-437: A typical cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk ). Winters are cool, while summers are hot and dry. Precipitation is low and mainly concentrated in the period between mid-autumn and mid-spring. The highest temperature ever recorded in Toledo was 44.2 °C (111.6 °F) on 13 August 2021; the lowest was −13.4 °C (7.9 °F) on 12 January 2021. The metal-working industry has historically been Toledo's economic base, with

4988-773: Is Cypriano Soarez , whose rhetorical handbook was a key textbook in the Jesuit Ratio studiorum which was used in Jesuit education throughout the Spanish empire . Diego de Valadés's Rhetorica christiana is the first Western rhetoric published by a native of México. Besides Soarez's De arte rhetorica , the progymnasmata by Pedro Juan Núñez was also published in Mexico City . Examples of Nahua oratory ( huehuetlatolli ) were collected by Andrés de Olmos and Bernardino de Sahagún . El Escorial El Escorial , or

5160-690: Is a Renaissance construction located on the top of the hill of the Assabica, inside the Nasrid fortification of the Alhambra . It was commanded by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , who wished to establish his residence close to the Alhambra palaces. Although the Catholic Monarchs had already altered some rooms of the Alhambra after the conquest of the city in 1492, Charles V intended to construct

5332-574: Is a city and municipality of Spain , the capital of the province of Toledo and the de jure seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha . Toledo is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Tagus in central Iberia , nestled in a bend of the river. It is known as the "City of the Three Cultures" for the cultural influences of Christians , Muslims , and Jews throughout its history. It

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5504-458: Is a significant trade, and many shops offer all kinds of swords to their customers, whether historical or modern swords used in films, as well as armor from the medieval period and other times, which are also exported to other countries. Some of the local specialties include lamb roast or stew, cochifrito , alubias con perdiz (beans with partridge) and perdiz estofoda (partridge stew), carcamusa , migas , gachas manchegas , and tortilla

5676-402: Is austere, even forbidding, in its outward appearance, seemingly more like a fortress than a monastery or palace. It takes the form of a gigantic quadrangle, approximately 224 by 153 metres (735 by 502 ft), which encloses a series of intersecting passageways and courtyards. At each of the four corners is a square tower surmounted by a spire, and, near the center of the complex (and taller than

5848-569: Is especially notable. Among the more recent interments is that of Infante Alfonso in October 1992. The younger brother of King Juan Carlos I , he was buried originally in Portugal, after being killed in a still-mysterious 1956 shooting at the family home in Estoril , aged 14. In 1994, King Juan Carlos I signed a decree raising his cousin and close personal friend Carlos, Duke of Calabria to

6020-413: Is for the moment the only queen in the pantheon who has not been mother to a king. That is because her only son, the presumed heir to the throne, died after her but before he could become king. But she was the great-grandmother of Philip V (by her daughter Maria Theresa of Spain ) and she is an ancestor of the king of Spain. The walls of polished Toledo marble are ornamented in gold-plated bronze. All of

6192-467: Is how he anticipated functional harmonic usage: there is a case of a Magnificat discovered in Lima, Peru, once thought to be an anonymous 18th century work, which turned out to be his work. Victoria's work was complemented by Alonso Lobo – a man Victoria respected as his equal. Lobo's work—also choral and religious in its content – stressed the austere, minimalist nature of religious music. Lobo sought out

6364-694: Is made up of a few thousands of medieval codices . Philip II donated his personal collection of documents to the building, and also undertook the acquisition of the finest libraries and works of Western European Humanism . During Phillip's reign, there was an entire room dedicated to ancient manuscripts, most of them in Latin, many in Greek, but also some in Hebrew, Aramaic , Arabic, Italian, French, and Spanish. There were approximately 1,800 Arabic titles. The first of those books were acquired in 1571 through Juan Paez de Castro . After that many books were obtained as

6536-499: Is religious, and all of it is vocal, though instruments may have been used in an accompanying role in performance. Morales also wrote two masses on the famous L'homme armé melody, which was often set by composers in the late 15th and 16th centuries. One of these masses is for four voices, and the other for five. The four voice mass uses the tune as a strict cantus firmus, and the setting for five voices treats it more freely, migrating it from one voice to another. The Spanish Golden Age

6708-565: Is situated at the foot of Mount Abantos in the Sierra de Guadarrama . This austere location, hardly an obvious choice for the site of a royal palace, was chosen by King Philip II of Spain , and it was he who ordained the building of a grand edifice here to commemorate the 1557 Spanish victory at the Battle of St. Quentin in Picardy against King Henry II of France . Philip also intended

6880-507: Is the case of the unemployed with high school degrees or professional expertise. The largest group among the unemployed is those who have no qualifications (27.27%). Toledo has a 25-member City Council, elected by closed lists every four years. The 2023 election saw a pact between the 9 members of the People's Party and the 4 members of Vox , allowing Carlos Velázquez of the PP to become mayor,

7052-584: The Ancien Régime , also owning large amounts of seigneurial land across most of the southern half of the Inner Plateau and some nearby territories. The mass arrival of deported unruly Moriscos from Granada ('moriscos nuevos') in Toledo and its lands (6,000 arrived to the city only, at least temporarily) in the wake of the Alpujarras rebellion posed a formidable logistic challenge, and

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7224-595: The Central March of Al-Andalus. In 852, a new revolt broke out in Toledo. The Umayyad governor was held hostage in order to secure the return of Toledan hostages held in Córdoba. In reprisal for a prior attack by Toledans, emir Muhammad I sent an army to attack them, but was defeated. Toledo forged an alliance with King Ordoño I of Asturias. They fought together at the Battle of Guadacelete but lost. Later in 857,

7396-451: The Church of San Sebastián dating from before the expulsion, still maintained in good condition. Among Ladino -speaking Sephardi Jews , in their various diasporas, the family name Toledano is still prevalent, indicating ancestry from the city (the name is also attested among non-Jews in various Spanish-speaking countries ). In the 13th century, Toledo was a major cultural centre under

7568-592: The Mediterranean between Valencia , Seville , and Florence . Luis de Morales , one of the leading exponents of Spanish Mannerist painting, retained a distinctly Spanish style in his work, reminiscent of medieval art . Spanish art, particularly Morales's, was notable for its mysticism and religious themes, which were encouraged by the Counter-Reformation and by the patronage of Spain's Catholic monarchs and aristocracy. Spanish rule of Naples

7740-449: The Middle Ages and the modern world. A veteran of the Battle of Lepanto (1571) , Cervantes had fallen on hard times in the late 1590s and was imprisoned for debt in 1597, and some believe that during these years he began work on his best-remembered novel. The first part of the novel was published in 1605; the second in 1615, a year before the author's death. Don Quixote resembled both the medieval, chivalric romances of an earlier time and

7912-729: The New World , the expulsion of Jews from Spain , and the publication of Antonio de Nebrija 's Grammar of the Castilian Language . Amongst scholars of the period, it's generally accepted that it came to an end around the time of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), that concluded the Franco-Spanish War of 1635 to 1659 . Others, however, extend the Golden Age up to 1681 with the death of Pedro Calderón de la Barca ,

8084-487: The Plateresque style, still with traces of Gothic origin. Machuca built a palace corresponding stylistically to Mannerism , a mode still in its infancy in Italy. El Escorial is the historical residence of the king of Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid, in

8256-624: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toledo , multiple persecutions (633, 653, 693) and stake burnings of Jews (638) occurred; the Kingdom of Toledo followed up on this tradition with forced conversions and mass murder (1368, 1391, 1449, 1486–1490) and rioting and bloodbath against the Jews of Toledo (1212). A major popular revolt erupted in 1449, with elements of tax mutiny, anti-Jewish and anti- converso sentiment, and appeals to

8428-559: The Roman School shunned. He demonstrated considerable invention in musical thought by connecting the tone and emotion of his music to those of his lyrics, particularly in his motets . Like Velázquez, Victoria was employed by the monarch – in Victoria's case, in the service of the queen. The Officium Defunctorum (Requiem) he wrote upon her death in 1603 is regarded as one of his most enduring and complex works. Francisco Guerrero ,

8600-531: The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( Spanish : Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid ), or Monasterio de El Escorial ( Spanish pronunciation: [el eskoˈɾjal] ), 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 [2.5 mi] road distance) from the town of El Escorial and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of

8772-616: The Spanish kings of the last five centuries, Bourbons as well as Habsburgs . The Royal Pantheon contains the tombs of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who ruled Spain as King Charles I), Philip II, Philip III , Philip IV , Charles II , Louis I , Charles III , Charles IV , Ferdinand VII , Isabella II , Alfonso XII , and Alfonso XIII . Two Bourbon kings, Philip V (who reigned from 1700 to 1724 and again from 1724 to 1746) and Ferdinand VI (1746–1759), as well as King Amadeus (1870–1873), are not buried in

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8944-435: The gout that afflicted him. The gallery was originally called the King's Gallery ( Galería del Rey ) but came to be known as the Hall of Battles ( Sala de Batallas ) for its fresco paintings depicting the most important Spanish military victories. These include a medieval victory over the Moors , as well as several of Philip's campaigns against the French. This chamber consists of twenty-six marble sepulchres containing

9116-433: The sacristy , paintings such as Joseph's Coat by Velázquez , The Last Supper by Titian , and The Adoration of the Sacred Host by Charles II by Claudio Coello are on exhibit. Under the royal chapel of the Basilica is the Royal Pantheon crypt. This is the place of burial for the kings of Spain. It is an octagonal Baroque mausoleum made of marble where all of the Spanish monarchs since Charles I have been buried, with

9288-407: The 7th century, a series of further church councils—the so-called Councils of Toledo —attempted to reconcile differing theological views and enacted anti-Jewish laws. By the end of the 7th century, the bishop of Toledo was the leader of all other bishops in Hispania, a situation unusual in Europe. The city was also unmatched as a symbolic center of monarchy. When internal divisions developed under

9460-452: The 920 and 930s, until Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III captured the city in 932 after an extensive siege. In the wake of the early 11th-century Fitna of al-Andalus , Toledo became the centre of an independent polity, the so-called Taifa of Toledo , under the rule of the Dhu l-Nunids . The population of Toledo at this time was about 28,000, including a Jewish population of 4,000. The Mozarab community had its own Christian bishop. The taifa

9632-417: The Byzantine and Arab world. Strikingly similar to El Escorial is the layout of the Alcázar of Seville and the design of the Alhambra at Granada , where, as at El Escorial, two courtyards in succession separate the main portal of the complex from a fully enclosed place of worship. The most persuasive theory for the origin of the floor plan is that it is based on descriptions of the Temple of Solomon by

9804-428: The Christian conquest, the city's Mozarab community grew by immigration from the Muslim south. Toledo preserved its status as a cultural centre. A tag-team translation centre was established in which books in Arabic or Hebrew would be translated into Castilian by Muslim and Jewish scholars, and from Castilian into Latin by Castilian scholars, thus letting long-lost knowledge spread through Christian Europe again. Under

9976-502: The Counter-Reformation. The austere, ascetic, and severe works of Francisco de Zurbarán exemplified this trend in Spanish art, alongside the compositions of Tomás Luis de Victoria . Philip IV actively patronized artists whose views aligned with his perspectives on the Counter-Reformation and religion. The mysticism in Zurbarán's work, influenced by Saint Theresa of Avila , became a defining characteristic of Spanish art in subsequent generations. Influenced by Michelangelo da Caravaggio and

10148-413: The Countess of Barcelona was the mother of a king but not the wife of a king. However, some consider the Count of Barcelona to have been de jure king of Spain from 1941 to 1977, which in turn would make him, his mother, Queen Victoria Eugenie, and his wife, the Countess of Barcelona, eligible for interment in the Pantheon of Kings. There has already been one exception to tradition: Elisabeth of Bourbon

10320-410: The David-warrior figure, representing Charles V, and his son, the stolid and solomonically prudent Philip II. Echoing the same theme, a fresco in the center of El Escorial's library, a reminder of Solomon's legendary wisdom, affirms Philip's preoccupation with the great Jewish king, his thoughtful and logical character, and his extraordinary, monumental temple. The Temple of Solomon design, if indeed it

10492-408: The Gothic regnant in Spanish architecture of prior centuries. Foundations for the church were laid by the architect Egas starting from 1518 to 1523 atop the site of the city's main mosque; by 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego de Siloé who labored for nearly four decades on the structure from ground to cornice, planning the triforium and five naves instead of the usual three. Most unusually, he created

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10664-448: The Italian masters, Zurbarán dedicated himself to an artistic expression of religion and faith. His paintings of St. Francis of Assisi , the Immaculate Conception , and the Crucifixion of Christ reflected a significant aspect of seventeenth-century Spanish culture, set against the backdrop of religious conflict across Europe. Zurbarán diverged from Velázquez's sharp realist interpretation of art and, to some extent, drew inspiration from

10836-454: The Judeo-Roman historian Flavius Josephus : a portico followed by a courtyard open to the sky, followed by a second portico and a second courtyard, all flanked by arcades and enclosed passageways, leading to the "holy of holies". Statues of David and Solomon on either side of the entrance to the basilica of El Escorial lend further weight to the theory that this is the true origin of the design. A more personal connection can be drawn between

11008-402: The King ( Casa del Rey ), is found behind the presbytery of the basilica. The outbuildings of this palace, of Italian style, are distributed around the Courtyard of the Fountainheads ( Patio de los Mascarones ). Inside the House of the King are the Sala de las Batallas (Hall of Battles), which contains frescoes of the battles of San Quintín and Higueruela, among others. The next building contains

11180-441: The King's neoplatonic views and who also designed the library's shelves. It constituted, along with the basilica, the heart of the entire project, and the project was redrafted several times to accommodate changes in the organization of the library itself. As was usual for Juan de Herrera's work, it was the most advanced of its kind in Europe. It was the first library on the continent that broke with medieval design. Domenico Fontana

11352-409: The King's preferences had been Michelangelo or Titian , but both of these giants were already more than eighty years old and in frail health. Consequently, Philip consulted his foreign ambassadors for recommendations, and the result was a lengthy parade of the lesser European artists of that time, all swanning through the construction site at El Escorial seeking the King's favor. One chapel exhibits

11524-415: The Pantheon of the Kings and the other for the Pantheon of the Princes. These can only be visited by monks from the Monastery. In these rooms, the remains of the deceased are placed in a small leaden urn, which in turn will be placed in the marble sepulchres of the appropriate pantheon after the passage of fifty years, the estimated time necessary for the complete decomposition of the bodies. The interment of

11696-404: The Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la Panadería , serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor. The origins of the Plaza date back to 1589 when Philip II of Spain asked Juan de Herrera , a renowned Renaissance architect, to discuss a plan to remodel the busy and chaotic area of the old Plaza del Arrabal. Juan de Herrera was the architect who designed

11868-562: The Poetic Academy in Madrid established by Sebastian Francisco de Medrano . Diego Velázquez , regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, was patronized by King Philip IV and his chief minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares . What is widely acknowledged as some of Spain's greatest music was written during this period. Composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria , Cristóbal de Morales , Francisco Guerrero , Luis de Milán and Alonso Lobo helped to shape Renaissance music and

12040-422: The Pope showcased his belief in artistic realism and a style comparable to many of the Dutch masters . Following the Thirty Years' War , Velázquez met the Marqués de Spinola and painted his famous Surrender of Breda (1635), celebrating Spinola's victory at Breda in 1625. Spinola was impressed by Velázquez's ability to convey emotion through realism in both his portraits and landscapes, the latter of which became

12212-434: 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:

12384-653: The Spanish colonies overseas in New Spain (modern day Mexico ). Many of the greatest poets attended the Medrano Academy in Madrid, including Lope de Vega, Quevedo and Gongora, established by the president, poet and playwright Sebastian Francisco de Medrano . The picaresque genre flourished in this era, describing the life of pícaros , living by their wits in a decadent society. Distinguished examples are El buscón , by Francisco de Quevedo , Guzmán de Alfarache by Mateo Alemán , Estebanillo González and

12556-517: The Toledans attacked Talavera but were again defeated. In 859, Muhammad I negotiated a truce with Toledo. The city became virtually independent for twenty years, though locked in conflict with neighboring cities. Cordobese authorities re-asserted control over Toledo in 873, after the successful Umayyad siege on the city, which forced defenders to submit. The Banu Qasi gained nominal control of Toledo until 920. A new period of unruliness followed in

12728-683: The Vatican; but around a thousand of them can still be found there. The King actively purchased rare books—often on esoteric, scientific, or theological subjects—from the East. He also collected and preserved over four hundred books prohibited by the Inquisition , which he agreed should not be available for those likely to "misunderstand" them but only to experts. By 1602, the library had a large cartographic collection and over 150 mathematical instruments. Before his death, Philip II left in his last will

12900-867: The Visigothic nobles, Tariq bin Ziyad captured Toledo in 711 or 712 on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus as part of the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula . Tariq's superior, Governor Musa, disembarked in Cádiz and proceeded to Toledo, where he executed the Visigothic nobles, destroying much of the existing power structure. Following the Umayyad conquest, invaders were ethnically diverse, and available evidence suggests that in

13072-495: The altar was replaced with a full circular dome over the center of the church, where the four arms of the Greek cross meet. Clearly Juan Bautista de Toledo 's experience with the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome influenced the design of El Escorial's basilica. However, the Roman dome is supported by ranks of tapered Corinthian columns, with their extravagant capitals of acanthus leaves and their elaborately fluted shafts, while

13244-460: The ancient institutions of his country – aristocracy, chivalry, and rigid morality, among others. Lope de Vega and Cervantes represented an alternative artistic perspective to the religious asceticism of Francisco Zurbarán. Lope de Vega's "cloak-and-sword" plays, which mingled intrigue, romance, and comedy together were carried on by his literary successor, Pedro Calderón de la Barca , in the later seventeenth century. This period also produced some of

13416-1092: The anonymously published Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), which created the genre. Other well-known playwrights of the period include: As elsewhere in Europe, Spanish scholars participated in the humanist recovery and theorizing of Greek and Roman rhetorics. Early Spanish humanists include Antonio Nebrija and Juan Luis Vives . Spanish rhetoricians who discussed Ciceronianism include Juan Lorenzo Palmireno and Pedro Juan Núñez . Famous Spanish Ramists include Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas , Pedro Juan Núñez , Fadrique Furió Ceriol, and Luis de Verga. Many other rhetoricians turned to Greek rhetorics from Hermogenes and Longinus which were preserved by Byzantine scholars , especially George of Trebizond . These Byzantine-inspired Spanish rhetoricians include Antonio Lull, Pedro Juan Núñez , and Luis de Granada . There were also many translators of progymnasmata , including Francisco de Vergara , Francisco Escobar, Juan de Mal Lara , Juan Pérez, Antonio Lull, Juan Lorenzo Palmireno , and Pedro Juan Núñez .. Another important Spanish rhetorician

13588-696: The area of Toledo (locally known as Ṭulayṭulah under Islamic rule), Berber settlement predominated over Arab . In 742, the Berbers in Al-Andalus rebelled against the Arab Umayyad governors. They took control of the north and unsuccessfully laid siege to the city. The city retained its importance as a literary and ecclesiastical centre well into the mid-8th century, as demonstrated by the Chronicle of 754 . During this period, several letters show of

13760-696: The arrival of rail. Following the July 1936 coup d'etat in Spain , the acting military commander in Toledo, José Moscardó , refused to provide weapons to Madrid and hid instead in the Alcázar with a garrison of about 1,000 rebels, food, ammunition and some hostages. After 21 July, they became subject to an unsuccessful siege by forces loyal to the Republic during the early stages of the Spanish Civil War . Leading rebel general (and soon-to-be " caudillo ") Francisco Franco and his Army of Africa took

13932-571: The baptismal font. The council of 681 assured to the archbishop of Toledo the primacy of Spain. At Guadamur , very close to Toledo, the Treasure of Guarrazar was excavated in 1858, the best example of Visigothic art in Spain. As nearly one hundred early canons of Toledo found a place in the Decretum Gratiani , they exerted an important influence on the development of ecclesiastical law . The synod of 1565–1566 concerned itself with

14104-590: The best for El Escorial's library. These ambassadors were coordinated by the head librarian, who had total authority to direct their movements, and who stayed in contact with them through all their travels. Diego Guzmán de Silva was one such ambassador and made one of the most important purchases for the library during his time in Venice: an ancient collection of Greek manuscripts and Latin codices (1569–1577). An inventory prepared in 1576 counted 4,546 volumes, over 2,000 manuscripts, and 2,500 printed books. That same year

14276-457: The building been finished, it would have been one of the biggest cathedrals in Spain. When the building was started, Valladolid was the de facto capital of Spain, housing King Philip II and his court. However, due to strategic and geopolitical reasons, by the 1560s, the capital was moved to Madrid, making Valladolid lose its political and economic relevance. By the late sixteenth century, Valladolid's importance had been severely reduced, and many of

14448-544: The building would undergo many modifications. Tomás Luis de Victoria , a Spanish composer of the sixteenth century, mainly of choral music, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Spanish classical composers. He joined the cause of Ignatius of Loyola in the fight against the Reformation and, in 1575, became a priest. He lived for a short time in Italy, where he became acquainted with the polyphonic work of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina . Like Zurbarán, Victoria mixed

14620-426: The buildings of the late Spanish Renaissance built by Herrera and his followers, is known for its purist and sober decoration, with its style being typical Spanish clasicismo , also called " Herrerian ". Using classical and Renaissance decorative motifs, Herrerian buildings are characterized by their extremely sober decorations, their formal austerity, and its like for monumentality. The cathedral has its origins in

14792-461: The city of Toledo goes back to Roman times, but it was under Moorish rule and during the Reconquista that Toledo and its guild of swordsmiths played a key role. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, the Toledo sword-making industry enjoyed a great boom, to the point where Toledo steel came to be regarded as the best in Europe. Swords and daggers were made by individual craftsmen, although

14964-414: The city through the 3rd and 4th centuries. Church councils were held in Toledo in the years 400 and 527 to discuss the conflict with Priscillianism . In 546 (or possibly earlier), Visigoth rulers installed the capital of their kingdom in Toledo. King Theudis was in Toledo in 546, where he promulgated the only law of which records remain from the period, known from a single manuscript. Throughout

15136-452: The city. On 25 May 1085, Alfonso VI of León took Toledo and established direct personal control over the city from which he had been exacting tribute. Around that time, the city's demographics featured a heterogeneous composition, with Mozarabs, Muslims and Jews, to which incoming Christians from northern Iberia and Frankish elements were added. Initially, therefore, different fueros were simultaneously in force for each community. After

15308-513: The civic community, eventually expanding from an urban revolt to anti-seigneurial riots in countryside settlements outside the city. During the persecution of the Jews in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, members of the local Jewish community produced texts on their long history in Toledo. After the crushing of the Revolt of the Comuneros , Charles V 's court was installed in Toledo, with

15480-556: The closure of the factory in the 1980s, the building was renovated to house the campus of the Technological University of Castilla–La Mancha in Toledo. According to the Statistical Institute of Castilla–La Mancha, in 2007 the share of employment by sector was as follows: 86.5% of the population engaged in the services, 6.6% in construction, 5.4% in industry and 1.5% in agriculture and livestock. In

15652-403: The completion of the project. With Toledo's death in 1567, direction passed to his apprentice, Juan de Herrera , under whom the building was completed in 1584, in slightly less than 21 years. To this day, la obra de El Escorial ("the work of El Escorial") is a proverbial expression for a thing that takes a long time to finish. Since then, El Escorial has been the burial site for most of

15824-520: The complex at El Escorial. Philip engaged the Spanish architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo , to be his collaborator in the design of El Escorial. Juan Bautista had spent the greater part of his career in Rome, where he had worked on the basilica of St. Peter's , and in Naples , where he had served the king's viceroy, whose recommendation brought him to the king's attention. Philip appointed him architect-royal in 1559, and together they designed El Escorial as

15996-422: The complex to serve as a necropolis for the interment of the remains of his parents, Charles I and Isabella of Portugal , himself, and his descendants. In addition, Philip envisioned El Escorial as a center for studies in aid of the Counter-Reformation cause. The building's cornerstone was laid on 23 April 1563. The design and construction were overseen by Juan Bautista de Toledo , who did not live to see

16168-491: The decade up to 2008, unemployment in absolute terms remained fairly stable in the city of Toledo, but in 2009 this figure increased significantly: nearly 62% higher than 2008, with the number of unemployed rising from 2,515 to 4,074 (figures at 31 March each year), according to the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Mancha. Of this 62%, one third of the increase took place in the first quarter. According to other statistics from

16340-517: The development of the neighborhoods of Palomarejos and Polígono ensued in the second half of the 20th century. In the 1980s, in the context of the creation of the autonomous communities in Spain, Toledo became the de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha , hosting the seat of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha (the regional legislature) and the presidency of the regional government (the executive). Toledo continues to be

16512-541: The different cells and rooms of the monks and that the Augustine monks have gradually managed to make their own. Finally, the Royal Library, which is public and exists under a special papal bull of protection. From the beginning, the Royal Library was meant to be a monumental work of art, and its execution was commissioned to prominent architects of the moment: Juan de Toledo and Juan de Herrera , who shared

16684-413: The dome at El Escorial, soaring nearly 100 metres (330 ft) into the air, is supported by four heavy granite piers connected by simple Romanesque arches and decorated by simple Doric pilasters , plain, solid, and largely unprepossessing. It would not be a flight of fancy to interpret St. Peter's as the quintessential expression of Baroque sensuality and the basilica at El Escorial as a statement of

16856-412: The east–west axis intersected by a shorter transept, about three-quarters of the way between the west entrance and the high altar. This plan was modified by Juan de Herrera to that of a Greek cross , a form with all four arms of equal length. Coincident with this shift in approach, the bell towers at the western end of the church were somewhat reduced in size and the small half-dome intended to stand over

17028-436: The emotive content of El Greco and earlier Mannerist painters. Nevertheless, Zurbarán respected and maintained the lighting and physical nuance characteristic of Velázquez's style. It is unknown whether Zurbarán had the opportunity to study Caravaggio's paintings; nonetheless, he adopted Caravaggio's realistic use of chiaroscuro . The painter who may have had the greatest influence on his characteristically severe compositions

17200-557: The essential genres and structures that would characterize the Spanish commercial drama, also known as "Comedia," throughout the 17th century. While Lope de Vega wrote prose and poetry as well, he is best remembered for his plays, particularly those grounded in Spanish history. Like Cervantes, Lope de Vega served with the Spanish army and was fascinated by the Spanish nobility. In the hundreds of plays he wrote, with settings ranging from Biblical times to legendary Spanish history to classical mythology to his own time, Lope de Vega frequently took

17372-513: The exception of Philip V , Ferdinand VI , and Amadeus of Savoy . The remains of the Count of Barcelona , the father of King Juan Carlos I of Spain , also rest in this pantheon despite the fact that the Count never became king himself. The enclosure is presided over by an altar of veined marble, and the sarcophagi are bronze and marble. There is also the Pantheon of the Princes, where the bodies of

17544-679: The exclusion of Toledo from the railway to the Portuguese border in the 1850s, the construction of a rail connection from Castillejo to Toledo promoted by the Marquis of Salamanca was approved in June 1856. The line was opened on 12 June 1858. Tourism fostered by the arrival of rail contributed to the development of the hospitality industry in the late 19th century. By the turn of the 20th century, Toledo's population stood at about 23,000. The neighborhood of Santa Bárbara came into existence after

17716-586: The execution of the decrees of the Council of Trent , and the last council held at Toledo, 1582–1583, was guided in detail by Philip II . Toledo had large communities of Muslims and Jews until they were expelled from Spain in 1492 (Jews) and 1502 ( Mudéjars ). Today's city contains the religious monuments the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca , the Synagogue of El Tránsito , the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz and

17888-491: The famous Crucifix carved in white marble by Benvenuto Cellini . This statue of Christ is unusual because it was represented fully nude; although for modesty it wears one cloth covering the genitals. Situated next to the main altar of the Basilica, the residence of King Philip II consists of a series of austerely decorated rooms. It features a window from which the king could observe mass from his bed when incapacitated by

18060-464: The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. Its eleven rooms showcase the tools, cranes and other materials used in the construction of the edifice, as well as reproductions of blueprints and documents related to the project. Constructed at the order of Philip II, a great lover of nature, these constitute an ideal place for repose and meditation. Manuel Azaña , the Socialist who served as

18232-545: The first project in 1581 to remodel the old Plaza del Arrabal but construction did not start until 1617, during Philip III's reign. The king asked Juan Gómez de Mora to continue with the project, and he finished the porticoes in 1619. Nevertheless, the Plaza Mayor as we know it today is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva who was entrusted with its reconstruction in 1790 after a spate of big fires. Giambologna 's equestrian statue of Philip III dates to 1616, but it

18404-559: The forms of Roman law and politics were increasingly adopted. At approximately this time, a Roman circus , city walls, public baths , and a municipal water supply and storage system were constructed in Toletum. The Roman circus in Toledo was one of the largest in Hispania . The circus could hold up to 15,000 spectators. A fragmentary stone inscription records circus games paid for by a citizen of unknown name to celebrate his achieving

18576-617: The guidance of Alfonso X , known as "El Sabio" ("the Wise") for his love of learning. The Toledo School of Translators , established under Archbishop Raymond of Toledo , continued to bring vast stores of knowledge to Europe by rendering great academic and philosophical works in Arabic into Latin. The Palacio de Galiana , built in the Mudéjar style, is one of the monuments remaining from that period. The Cathedral of Toledo ( Catedral de Toledo )

18748-399: The initial plan for the main façade, introducing Baroque elements. The magnificence of the building would be even greater if the two large 81-meter towers foreseen in the plans had been built; however, the project remained incomplete for various reasons, including finance. Granada Cathedral had been intended to become the royal mausoleum for Charles I of Spain, but Philip II of Spain moved

18920-413: The invitation extended by Director General of Security José Finat y Escrivá de Romaní . The main purpose of the visit was to inspect the Spanish security forces, discuss Spanish-German police cooperation, and prepare for the planned meeting at Hendaye between Franco and Hitler. During his trip, Himmler visited the ruins of the Alcázar. By 1950, the population was around 40,243. Urban planning vis-à-vis

19092-501: The king's viceroy, whose recommendation brought him to the king's attention. Philip appointed him architect-royal in 1559, and, together, they designed El Escorial as a monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world. On 2 November 1984, UNESCO declared The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo of El Escorial a World Heritage Site . It is a popular tourist attraction, often visited by daytrippers from Madrid—more than 500,000 visitors come to El Escorial every year. El Escorial

19264-469: The kneeling family groups of Charles and Philip, also by Leoni, with help from his son Pompeo . In a shallow niche at the center of the lowest level is the tabernacle, a repository for the physical elements of the communion ceremony, a so-called "House of the Sacrament", designed by Juan de Herrera in jasper and bronze . It was built between 1579 and 1586 by Jacopo da Trezzo . To decorate the reredos ,

19436-544: The last great writer of the age. Generally, it is divided into a Plateresque / Renaissance period and the early part of the Spanish Baroque period. The Spanish Golden Age spans the work of Miguel de Cervantes , the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha ; and of Lope de Vega , Spain's most prolific playwright, who wrote around 1,000 plays during his lifetime, of which over 400 survive to the present day. Lope de Vega, Luis de Gongora , and other famous poets attended

19608-620: The last president of the Second Spanish Republic , studied in the monastery's Augustinian -run school and mentions them in his Memorias (Memoirs) and his play El jardín de los frailes (The Garden of the Friars). Students at the school still use it today to study and pass the time. The Escorial has three libraries. One is located behind the Chorus of the basilica. Another, within the monastery itself, used to be distributed to

19780-402: The later years of that century and ultimately disappearing by the turn of the 19th century. The Peninsular War affected the city in a very negative way. Over the course of the 19th century, Toledo underwent a progressive change from convent city to bureaucratic city. The city being quite impervious to external influence at the time, the bourgeoisie exerted a limited influence. Following

19952-437: The lay figure in his study of draperies, in which he was particularly skilled. He had a notable talent for depicting white draperies, leading to numerous representations of the white-robed Carthusians in his works. Zurbarán is said to have adhered to these meticulous methods throughout his career, which was successful and spent entirely in Spain. His subjects were predominantly austere and ascetic religious scenes, often depicting

20124-493: The library has more than 40,000 volumes, located in a great hall 54 metres (177 ft) in length, 9 metres (30 ft) wide, and 10 metres (33 ft) tall, with marble floors and beautifully carved wood shelves. De Herrera and Italian construction engineer Giuseppe Flecha y Gamboa were careful to consider the security of the library's holdings in armarios (large bookcases), as well as their display, safeguards against fire hazards, and use of available natural lighting. This library

20296-409: The library introduced a novel way of arranging the library's bookcases or "book presses". Until then most book presses were combined with desks and stood at right angles to the library's walls. This system was known as the "stall system" and allowed light from the library's windows to illuminate the shelves. Phillip's library began using a "wall system", placing the bookcases along the walls. Currently

20468-419: The library of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza , the most valuable in Spain at the time, was bought. It included 850 codices and over 1,000 printed volumes. At this point, the size of the library was such that Benito Arias Montano had to be specially hired to organize the books and classify them by language, in addition to subject. In the 1580s the Library acquired some of its most unique pieces. Jorge Beteta donated

20640-461: The magnificent main staircase. The library contains thousands of priceless manuscripts : for example, the collection of the sultan Zidan Abu Maali , who ruled Morocco from 1603 to 1627, is housed here. The main entrance of the El Escorial is the west façade, which has three doors: the middle one leads to the Courtyard of the Kings ( Patio de los Reyes ) and the side ones lead to a school and to

20812-575: The main cloister, decorated with frescoes by Tibaldi and his workshop, in which scenes from the history of the Redemption are represented. In the East gallery, one finds the splendid main staircase with a fresco-decorated vaulted ceiling depicting The glory of the Spanish monarchy , painted by Luca Giordano in 1692. The Palace of the Austrians ( Palacio de los Austrias ), also known as the House of

20984-459: The monarch choosing the city as his residence at least 15 times from 1525 on. Charles granted the city a coat of arms. From 1528 to 1561 the population increased from 31,930 to 56,270. In 1561, during the first years of his son Philip II 's reign, the royal court was set in Madrid . The archbishops of Toledo remained powerful brokers in the political and religious affairs of Spain for the rest of

21156-498: The monastery. The floor plan of the building is in the form of a gridiron. The traditional belief is that this design was chosen in honor of Saint Lawrence , who, in the third century AD, was martyred by being roasted to death on a grill. St. Lawrence's feast day is 10 August, the same date as the 1557 Battle of St. Quentin. However, the origin of the building's layout is quite controversial. The grill-like shape, which did not fully emerge until Juan de Herrera eliminated from

21328-401: The monumental projects, such as the cathedral, started during its prosperous years, had to be modified due to a lack of proper finance. Thus, the building that stands now could not be finished completely, and due to several additions built during the 17th and 18th centuries, it lacks the purported stylistical uniformity sought by Herrera. Although mainly faithful to the project of Juan de Herrera,

21500-454: The most important Spanish works of poetry. The introduction and influence of Italian Renaissance verse are apparent perhaps most vividly in the works of Garcilaso de la Vega and illustrate a profound influence on later poets. Mystical literature in Spanish reached its summit with the works of San Juan de la Cruz and Teresa of Ávila . Baroque poetry was dominated by the contrasting styles of Francisco de Quevedo and Luis de Góngora ; both had

21672-525: The municipality had a population of 83,226. The municipality has an area of 232.1 km (89.6 sq mi). The town was granted arms in the 16th century, which by special royal privilege were based on the coat of arms of the King of Spain . Toledo ( Latin : Toletum ) is described by the Roman historian Livy (ca. 59 BCE – 17 CE) as urbs parva, sed loco munita ("a small city, but fortified by location"). Roman general Marcus Fulvius Nobilior fought

21844-492: The novels of the early modern world. It parodied classical morality and chivalry, found comedy in knighthood, and criticized social structures and the perceived madness of Spain's rigid society. The work has endured to the present day as a landmark in world literary history, and it was an international hit in its own time, interpreted variously as a satirical comedy, social commentary and forebear of self-referential literature. A contemporary of Cervantes, Lope de Vega consolidated

22016-468: The original conception the six interior towers of the façade, was not unique to El Escorial. Other buildings had been constructed with churches or chapels fronting on interior courtyards: King's College, Cambridge , dating from 1441, is one such example; the old Ospedale Maggiore , Milan 's first hospital, begun in 1456 by Antonio Filarete , is another grid-like building with interior courtyards. In fact, palaces of this approximate design were commonplace in

22188-502: The others, and the closest to the origin, which was God in the Basilica: theology, geometry, and mathematics. The visitor must leave the noisy world behind and walk through the halls of knowledge in a specific, comprehensible order from concreteness to abstraction before being able to reach God and understand His message, a notion quite in line with both Charles I and Philip II's hermeticist view of religion. During Philip II's reign,

22360-512: The pantheon is King Alfonso XIII , removed there from the Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato , Rome in 1980. The remains of Alfonso XIII's wife, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg were interred in the pantheon in 2011. The remains of Alfonso XIII's third son Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona , (d. 1993) and daughter-in-law Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (d. 2000); (the father and mother of King Juan Carlos I ), lie at

22532-539: The primacy that the church of Toledo held. Under the Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba , Toledo was the centre of numerous insurrections against Cordobese government from 761 to 857. Girbib ibn-Abdallah, a poet from Toledo, wrote verses against the Umayyads, helping to inspire a revolt in the city against the new emir in 797. By the end of the 8th century, the Umayyads had made Toledo the administrative center of

22704-432: The profane subjects—such as history, geography, and botany—are located in the part closest to the entrance. The library corridors branch out into different sections just to re-converge in the end, and as they advance towards the basilica, the subjects are the more abstract forms—such as poetry, grammar, and mathematics. The subjects closest to the basilica are those the King conceived as being the most abstract distillations of

22876-468: The queens who did not have a crowned succession and the princes and princesses were laid to rest. This part was built in the nineteenth century. Next to the basilica, to the south, is the Courtyard of the Evangelists. This is a gardened patio in whose center rises a magnificent pavilion, by Juan de Herrera , in which one can find sculptures of the Evangelists. Around the courtyard are the galleries of

23048-588: The remains of Queen Victoria Eugenie and the Count and Countess of Barcelona in the Royal Pantheon will each constitute an exception to tradition. First, Victoria Eugenie, although the wife of a king, was never the mother of a king in the strict sense. Secondly, the Count of Barcelona never reigned as king, although he was head of the Spanish royal family between the renunciation of his father's rights on 14 January 1941 and his renunciation of his own rights in favour of his son Juan Carlos I on 14 May 1977. Thirdly,

23220-476: The remains of the kings and queens regnant (the only queen regnant since Philip II being Isabella II ) of the Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties, from Charles I to the present, except for Philip V and his son Ferdinand VI . The sepulchres also contain the remains of royal consorts who were parents of monarchs. The only king consort is Francis of Asis de Bourbon , husband of Queen Isabella II and father of Alfonso XII . The most recent monarch interred in

23392-647: The rest), rise the pointed belfries and round dome of the basilica. Philip's instructions to Juan Bautista de Toledo were simple and clear, directing that the architects should produce "simplicity in the construction, severity in the whole, nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation." Aside from its explicit purposes, the complex is also an enormous storehouse of art. In it are displayed masterworks by Titian , Tintoretto , Benvenuto Cellini , El Greco , Velázquez , Rogier van der Weyden , Paolo Veronese , Bernini , Alonso Cano , José de Ribera , Claudio Coello , and others. Giambattista Castello designed

23564-485: The rooms of Philip II and of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia . Another outbuilding is that of Alcoba del Rey , housing the bed in which Philip II died. The basilica of San Lorenzo el Real, the central building in the El Escorial complex, was originally designed, like most of the late Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe, to take the form of a Latin cross . As such, it has a long nave on

23736-476: 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 Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial

23908-417: The same source, almost half the unemployed in the city of Toledo (1,970 persons) are among those whose education does not go beyond the compulsory secondary level. However, there are groups whose level of studies is such that they have not been registered as unemployed, including those who have completed class 1 professional training, or those with virtually nonexistent unemployment rates (less than 0.1%), which

24080-619: The same year he painted 13 canvases for the monastery of St. Francisco el Grande. This proved a boost to his reputation. Following the completion of a pair of pictures for the Seville Cathedral , he began to specialize in the themes that brought him his greatest successes: Mary and the Child Jesus, and the Immaculate Conception . After another period in Madrid from 1658 to 1660, he returned to Seville. There, he

24252-406: The sevirate, a kind of priesthood conferring high status. Games were held in the circus late into the 4th and early 5th centuries, an indication of active city life and ongoing patronage by wealthy elites. Toledo started to gain importance in late antiquity. There are indications that large private houses ( domus ) within the city walls were enlarged, while several large villas were built north of

24424-418: The shape of a Greek cross and an enormous dome, inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, above the crossing. The naves are covered over by barrel vaults decorated with frescoes by Luca Giordano . The main altarpiece is 30 metres (98 ft) high and divided into compartments of different sizes where are found bronze sculptures, and canvases by Pellegrino Tibaldi , Federico Zuccari , and Leone Leoni . In

24596-556: The site for his father and subsequent kings to El Escorial outside of Madrid. The main chapel contains two kneeling effigies of the Catholic King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabel, by Pedro de Mena y Medrano. The busts of Adam and Eve were made by Alonso Cano . The Chapel of the Trinity has a marvelous retablo with paintings by El Greco, Alonso Cano, and José de Ribera (The Spagnoletto ). The Cathedral of Valladolid , like all

24768-639: The sixteenth century, devoted much of his lengthy reign (1556–1598) and much of his seemingly inexhaustible supply of New World silver to stemming the Protestant tide sweeping through Europe while simultaneously fighting the Islamic Ottoman Empire . His protracted efforts were, in the long run, partly successful. However, the same counter-reformational impulse had a much more benign expression thirty years earlier, in Philip's decision to build

24940-491: The spirit subduing the flesh. These compositions were frequently simplified to a single figure. His style is more reserved and subdued than Caravaggio's, with a color tone that is often bluish. Exceptional effects are achieved through precisely finished foregrounds, primarily utilizing light and shade. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo began his art studies under Juan del Castillo in Seville. The city's great commercial importance at

25112-555: The stark rigidity and grim purposefulness of the Inquisition , the two sides of the Counter-Reformation . The most richly decorated part of the church is the area surrounding the high altar. Behind the altar is a three-tiered reredos , or altar screen, made of red granite and jasper , nearly 28 metres (92 ft) tall, adorned with gilded bronze statuary by Leone Leoni , and three sets of religious paintings commissioned by Philip II. To either side are gilded life-size bronzes of

25284-490: The status of a Spanish infante , making him eligible for interment in the Pantheon of the Princes. Upon his death in October 2015, his funeral was held at El Escorial and his body placed in the pudridero , awaiting future interment in the pantheon. Thirty-seven of the sixty available niches are filled. Consists of works of the German , Flemish , Venetian , Lombard , Ligurian and more Italian and Spanish schools from

25456-480: The styles of counterpoint and polychoral music. Their influence lasted long into the Baroque period , resulting in a revolution of music. During the Italian Renaissance , few great artists from Italy visited Spain, but the Italian holdings and relationships established by Ferdinand of Aragon , Queen Isabella's husband and, later, Spain's sole monarch, prompted a steady flow of intellectuals across

25628-496: The sword-makers guild oversaw their quality. In the late 17th and early 18th century, production began to decline, prompting the creation of the Royal Arms Factory in 1761 by order of King Charles III . The Royal Factory brought together all the sword-makers' guilds of the city and was located in the former mint. In 1777, recognizing the need to expand the space, Charles commissioned the architect Sabatini to construct

25800-677: The synod of 589 the Visigothic king Reccared declared his conversion from Arianism to Catholicism ; the synod of 633 decreed uniformity of Catholic liturgy throughout the Visigothic Kingdom and took stringent measures against baptized Jews who had relapsed into their former faith. Other councils forbade circumcision, Jewish rites and observance of the Sabbath and festivals. Throughout the seventh century, Jews were flogged, executed, had their property confiscated, were subjected to ruinous taxes, forbidden to trade and, at times, dragged to

25972-412: The technical qualities of Italian art with the religion and culture of his native Spain. He invigorated his work with emotional appeal, experimental mystical rhythm, and choruses. He broke from the dominant tendency among his contemporaries by avoiding complex counterpoint, preferring longer, simpler, less technical, and more mysterious melodies, and employing dissonance in ways that the Italian members of

26144-618: The temporal power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it is now a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine . Philip II of Spain, reacting to the Protestant Reformation sweeping through Europe during

26316-415: The time ensured that he was also subject to influences from other regions, which enabled him to become familiar with Flemish painting . His first works were influenced by Zurbarán , Jusepe de Ribera and Alonso Cano , with whom he shared a strongly realist approach. As his painting developed, however, his more important works evolved into a polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristocratic tastes of

26488-424: The time, especially his Roman Catholic religious works. In 1642, at the age of 26, he moved to Madrid . While there, it's highly likely that he became familiar with the work of Velázquez and that he viewed the work of Venetian and Flemish masters in the royal collections; the influence of both can be seen in the rich colors and softly modeled forms of his later work. Murillo returned to Seville in 1645, where in

26660-407: The town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial . El Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: El Real Monasterio de El Escorial itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda , a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometers away. These sites have a dual nature; that is to say, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were places in which

26832-561: The two other Spanish 16th-century composers of the first rank. He wrote numerous secular songs and instrumental pieces, in addition to masses, motets, and passions. He was able to capture an astonishing variety of moods in his music, from elation to despair, longing, depression, and devotion. His music remained popular for hundreds of years, especially in cathedrals in Latin America. Stylistically, he preferred homophonic textures rather than Spanish contemporaries. One feature of his style

27004-484: The uneasy preexisting system of social relations between the moros viejos ('old Moors') and the Old Christians was disrupted. By and large, Granadan new Moriscos were subject to xenophobic abuse and became stigmatised as bloodthirsty and sacrilegious. The city excelled in silk manufacturing during the early modern period. The silk industry reached a peak in the 16th century, entering a protracted decline in

27176-410: The wood used in El Escorial comes from the ancient forests of Sagua La Grande , on the so-called Golden Coast of Cuba. The pantheon's name in Spanish is Panteón de Infantes . Completed in 1888, this group of nine burial chapels is the final resting place of princes, princesses, and consorts other than the parents of monarchs. With floors and ceiling of white marble, the tomb of Prince John of Austria

27348-418: Was Juan Sánchez Cotán . Additionally, polychrome sculpture —which had reached a high level of sophistication in Seville by the time of Zurbarán's apprenticeship and surpassed that of the local painters—served as another important stylistic model for the young artist. The work of Juan Martínez Montañés is particularly close to Zurbarán's in spirit. Zurbarán painted directly from nature and frequently utilized

27520-531: Was a Renaissance statement of power, majesty, prowess, and intellectual world leadership, designed for both the preservation of the old (binding multiple cultural histories into a single Catholic Spanish culture) and discovery of the new (imprinted by that culture). The vault of the library's ceiling is decorated with frescoes, painted by Pellegrino Tibaldi , depicting the seven liberal arts : grammar , rhetoric , dialectic , music , arithmetic , geometry , and astronomy . This arrangement of parallel book cases

27692-534: Was a time of great flourishing in poetry, prose and drama. Regarded by many as one of the finest works in any language, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes was the first novel published in Europe; it gave Cervantes a stature in the Spanish-speaking world comparable to his contemporary William Shakespeare in English. The novel, like Spain itself, was caught between

27864-465: Was born on June 6, 1599, in Seville , to parents of minor nobility and was the eldest of six children. Widely regarded as one of Spain's most important and influential artists, he became a court painter for King Philip IV and gained increasing demand across Europe for his portraits of statesmen, aristocrats, and clergymen. His portraits of the King, his chief minister the Count-Duke of Olivares, and

28036-562: 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 was also a boarding school: the Real Colegio de Alfonso XII. Philip II engaged the Spanish architect Juan Bautista de Toledo to be his collaborator in the building of the complex at El Escorial. Toledo had spent the greater part of his career in Rome, where he had worked on St. Peter's Basilica , and in Naples serving

28208-421: Was built between 1226 and 1493 and modeled after Bourges Cathedral , though it also combines some characteristics of the Mudéjar style. It is remarkable for its incorporation of light and features a Baroque altar called El Transparente , several storeys high, with fantastic figures of stucco, paintings, bronze castings, and several colors of marble, a masterpiece of medieval mixed media by Narciso Tomé . For

28380-603: Was centered on the Tagus and bordered Sierra de Guadarrama , Guadalajara , Medinaceli , the Taifa of Valencia and the Mountains of Toledo . The taifa, however, fell into political disarray, owing to the economic draining caused by the parias (tributes) imposed by the Kingdom of León as well as territorial mutilations, and so a revolt erupted in 1079, which was followed by the Aftasid ruler of Badajoz taking control of

28552-538: Was important for making connections between Italian and Spanish art, with many Spanish administrators bringing Italian works back to Spain. Known for his unique expressionistic style, which elicited both puzzlement and admiration, El Greco ("the Greek") was originally from the island of Crete. He was not Spanish but Greek by birth. El Greco studied the great Italian masters of his time— Titian , Tintoretto , and Michelangelo —during his stay in Italy from 1568 to 1577. According to legend, El Greco once claimed he would paint

28724-431: Was initiated by Philip II and was called the "wall system". The fire of 1671, which engulfed the library, destroyed about 5,280 handwritten codices , but the printed collections were saved. The printed collection of the library is made up of more than 600 incunabulas , 10,608 books from the 16th century, 2,179 books from the 17th century, and an increasing number of books from the 18th century. The manuscript collection

28896-506: Was inspired by Herrera's design, after a visit, for his design of the Vatican Library . Philip was involved in every part of the design process of the library. The Royal Library, like everything else in El Escorial, forms part of a larger symbolic structure and has symbolic meaning. It links the monastery and the seminary across the principal axis of the building, symbolizing the union of the spiritual and physical world. The books on

29068-499: Was not placed in the center of the square until 1848. Unlike most cathedrals in Spain, construction of this cathedral had to await the acquisition of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada from its Muslim rulers in 1492. While its very early plans had Gothic designs, such as are evident in the Royal Chapel of Granada by Enrique Egas, the construction of the church in the main occurred at a time when Renaissance designs were supplanting

29240-601: Was one of the founders of the Academia de Bellas Artes (Academy of Fine Arts), sharing its direction in 1660 with the architect Francisco Herrera the Younger . This was his period of greatest activity, during which he received numerous important commissions, among them the altarpieces for the Augustinian monastery and the paintings for Santa María la Blanca (completed in 1665). He died in 1682. The Palace of Charles V

29412-477: Was the basis for El Escorial, was extensively modified to accommodate the additional functions Philip II intended the building to serve. Besides being a monastery, El Escorial is also a pantheon, a basilica, a convent, a school, a library, and a royal palace. All these functional demands resulted in a doubling of the building's size from the time of its original conception. Built primarily from locally quarried gray granite, square and sparsely ornamented, El Escorial

29584-439: Was the capital, from 542 to 725 CE, of the Visigothic kingdom and was the venue for the Councils of Toledo . The city, seat of a powerful archdiocese for much of its history, has a Gothic Cathedral , and a long history in the production of bladed weapons , which are now common souvenirs of the city. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive monumental and cultural heritage. As of 2015 ,

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