Tourism Web Page of San Lorenzo de El Escorial

Location: Floridablanca Street, 3 and 5.

Although physically separated, they constitute a construction conceived as a single unit. Originally they were built because of the lack of space in the Monastery to hold all the palace quarters.

Designed by Juan de Herrera, outside the monastic perimeter, the work was co-directed by Herrera and Francisco de Mora between 1587 and 1589, the First House; and between 1593 and 1596, the Second House.

Located between the Lonja (marketplace) and the former street of the Doctors, today Floridablanca, they satisfactorily resolved the slope existing between both spaces. As a result of this, their façades present a difference in height, (three floors in the Lonja and two in Floridablanca) leading to two different scales, one of continuous and rounded façades in accord with the Monastery, and the other where this continuity fragments and patios are opened that point towards possible urban development.

They are practically identical and constitute two dimensions of the same building that have the same composition, with six patios and a single block corresponding exactly to the north façade of the Monastery. The doorways are all done in stonework, and have three window orders and slate roofs. On the north façade, each house is divided in three patios with porches and square pillars.

In 1769, the Second House of Trades was communicated with the Monastery through a subterranean passage called "la Cantina" and the following year an elevated passage supported by depressed arches that joined both buildings. Later, the First House of Trades was connected through another passage, no longer existing today, with the Carlos III Royal Coliseum.

In the 19th century the functional separation of the two Houses of Trades, differentiating their purposes, that has continued to our time. At present the First House of Trades houses the Cultural Centre, the Manuel Andújar Municipal Library, the Exposition Hall, the Local Tourism and Information Office and the Music Conservatory. In the Second House is found the ancient chapel of the labourers and currently the Capilla de Nuestra Señora de la Virgen de Gracia, patron saint of the city, in honour of those who each year make the Procession declared Festival of National Tourist Interest, which is held the second Sunday of September. Between both buildings is located the Integrated School of Music of the Madrid Autonomous Community. Next to both buildings are the Royal Horses and Stables.

CULTURAL CENTRE AND EXPOSITION HALL
Street Floridablanca, 3	Telephone: 91 896 07 72 Fax: 91 890 77 19	E-mail: cultura@sanlorenzodeelescorial.org
MANUEL ANDÚJAR MUNICIPAL LIBRARY
Street Floridablanca, 3	Telephone: 91 896 08 04 Fax: 91 890 77 19
LOCAL OFFICE OF TOURISM AND INFORMATION
Street Grimaldi, 2	Tel./ Fax: 91 890 53 13	E-mail: info@sanlorenzoturismo.org
INTEGRATED SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Street Floridablanca, 3	Telephone: 91 890 36 11
SANTUARY OF NTRA. SRA. LA VIRGEN DE GRACIA
Street Floridablanca, 7	Telephone: 91 890 41 21

Location: Floridablanca Street, 7

Carlos III assigned this construction to Juan de Villanueva, executed between 1785 and 1797, which closed the perimeter of the Lonja once the Princes' House was built. Although in Felipe II's conception of the area around the Monastery did not consider this closing by a wall, Villanueva chose this set up to preserve the building once the equilibrium that it maintained with the settlement site was altered.

The plot of land chosen was not empty; the first Bourbons had permitted a good number of houses and kitchens for palace servants to be built there that, for their "improper aspect", had to be demolished.

The building, that maintains uniformity with the other two Houses of Trades, was to house the First State Secretary, the Count of Floridablanca. In its construction, the design of Juan de Herrera was followed when solving the slope existing between the upper street and the Lonja.

Just as in Herrera's design of the Princes' House and in the Houses of Trades, Villanueva proposed a freestanding building, separated on the sides by their streets. Nevertheless, the great challenge of his construction was to resolve the problem of the slope that exists between the Lonja and the Floridablanca Street.

In the elevations, Villanueva –just like in all his productions in the Royal Estate- again chooses historicist dimensions. Even the façade facing the Lonja became an imitation of the Herrera-style Houses of Trades, assuming their rhythm and composition.

In 1797 a raised passage was constructed which joined it to the Second House of Trades. For some time it held the administration and offices of the National Heritage in San Lorenzo de El Escorial and currently is completely occupied by private renters that use it as dwellings.

Location: Paseo de los Alamillos, 2

With sketches of Francisco de Mora, in 1591 it was begun in order to house, in a single building all the warehousing, services and animals of the Hieronymite Community, a religious order to which was entrusted the care and maintenance of the Monastery. It was built facing the western façade of the Monastery, at the base of the Abantos mountain range.

The main building of the Company Quarters had a square floor plan with an interior patio of identical geometry, a first floor with fifteen arches per side on square columns and a second floor with large square windows over which were placed the slate roofs.

On the ground floor were the mill, the ovens, the refectory with kitchen, as well as the cells for guests and monks of the mendicant orders. In the upper floor were the handicraft workshops and the infirmary.

In the southern row of rooms, a large doorway of a Tuscan order was opened for the passing of carriages and livestock. To its left was a building of a single floor for the smithies and coach houses. Its inside façade had a colonnade, making a spacious common patio.

The main façade is the southern one, of Herrerian style; it stands out for its sober wall surface of granite masonry interrupted by embellishment of the openings, fascia and cornice also of stonework.

In 1744, a fire almost destroyed this house, varying many of its functions since then.

In the 18th century, Juan de Villanueva added a section, in line with the eastern façade, in front of the Monastery, which linked it with the Princes' Family House.

At the end of the 19th century, the buildings were abandoned. This brought about their delivery in 1892 to the San Agustin Order, the new community that took custody of the Monastery, in order to establish in it the Royal College of Advanced Studies of El Escorial, known today as the Maria Cristina Royal University Centre in honour of its protector, the regent queen Maria Cristina of Hapsburg-Lorraine.

The declaration on 3rd June 1931 of the Palace and Monastery of San Lorenzo as a Historical-ArtisticMonument includes the Company Quarters among its buildings.

Currently the Maria Cristina Royal University Centre, attached to the MadridComplutenseUniversity, is one of the entities that provides the Summer Courses in San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

MARIA CRISTINA ROYALUNIVERSITY CENTRE
Pº de los Alamillos, 2	Telephone: 91 890 45 45 Fax: 91 890 66 09

House of Paláez or Princes' Family House

Location: Street del Rey, 38

This could be the last of the great enterprises executed in the town, destined to be the Family House of the Princes Carlos Maria Isidro and Francisco de Paula (sons of Carlos IV). Juan de Villanueva carried out its remodelling.

The War of Independence interrupted the work and later it was never used.

During the 19th century, the lawyer José Peláez acquired it from the National Heritage, that transferred it to the General Department of State Heritage that, in turn, finally sold it to the company Euroforum-Escorial in order to create the educational and residential centre that currently gives the Summer Courses of the Madrid Complutense University and various specialised training courses for Executive Directors.

In 1984 it was declared HistoricalArtisticMonument and in 1990 Miguel Oriol began its restoration, rebuilding practically the entire building, incorporating historical remains that were kept and giving it a definitive solution and a continued use that up to now it never had.

Location: Paseo de Carlos III s/n (Highway M-665)

Located in the Meadows of the Herrería, to the west of the Monastery, it was assigned by Gabriel de Bourbon to the architect Juan de Villanueva in the year 1772, for the enjoyment of his great interests, among which were music and a very private life, surrounded by his circle of friends and at the margin of the protocol that surrounded the palace.

Its relative remoteness from the Monastery permitted Villanueva to use a freer architectonic expression than that used in other designs of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where the conceptual subordination to the Monastery is noted. He strengthened, in this case, the country-house style in accord with the trends so much in vogue in Europe of the 18th century.

The building has a main façade, flanked by two Ionic columns, in which the two sphinxes that watch over the entrance should be emphasised. The back façade, which leads to the garden, recalls the Italian style that prevailed at the time.

The building was conceived to house a concert hall where the spectators could listen in the interior of the building as well as in the landscaped surroundings. The musicians' dais is observed in the high part of the main room.

Its original decoration has disappeared over time. In its interior the Main Hall, the Dining Room and the Pompeian Hall are outstanding, as well as its collections of paintings and porcelain. Outside, its splendid gardens were enlarged by the marvellous views that it offers of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

His Majesty King Juan Carlos I was the last member of the Royal Family to reside in the building during his student period in the AlfonsoXIISchool.

This building was declared Site of Cultural Interest in 1931 along with the Monastery.

VISITING HOURS

October to March

Closed except 29th and 30th on March
(10.00 a.m. -13.00//15.00 - 17.30)

Price of entrance: 3,40 €

April to September

Open from April to June:
weekends:
10,00 a.m. - 13.00 //16.00 - 18.30
From July to September:
Tuesday to Sunday:
10.00 a.m - 13.00// 16.00 - 18.30.

For greater assurance, it is recommended to call in advance to confirm the days and hours open:
National Heritage (Tel. 918 905 903) or the local Tourism and Information Office of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Location: Floridablanca Street, 20

Construction carried out by Jaime Marquet between 1770 and 1771, for the enjoyment of the gentlemen and ladies of the Court. It is distributed in the shape of a rectangle in which the patio of theatre seats forms a U. Above are two levels of boxes and one of amphitheatres. The building is completely roofed, which was extremely novel in its time, and formed part of a group of buildings together with the House of the Comedians and the two that currently make up a hotel establishment.

When the work was finished, its management was ceded to the residents, conserving the Crown its ownership. This system caused many disputes that ended when the State sold it, segregating it from the estate in 1869. It became a cinema in the middle of the 20th century, a time in which its progressive deterioration began.

After numerous difficulties the final restoration was achieved, carried out by the architectsJosé Luis Martín and Mariano Bayón, between 1974 and 1979, at the request of the Society of Promotion and Construction of the Carlos

III Royal Coliseum, whose president of honour is His Majesty the King Juan Carlos I; it was awarded the National Prize for Restoration in 1980. In 1981 it became part of the Network of National Theatres and Festivals of Spain of the Ministry of Culture and since 1985 the Madrid Autonomous Community is in charge of its programming. In 1995 it was declared Site of Cultural Interest in the Monument category.

Since its opening up to the year 1777, at which time by Decree of Floridablanca the Theatres were closed of the Royal Estates of La Granja de San Ildefonso, Aranjuez and San Lorenzo de El Escorial, the Royal Coliseum functioned based on French tragedy and comedy, sometimes in translations of illustrious Spanish literary persons such as Iriarte, Olavide, Jovellanos or Ramón de la Cruz.

The actors that represented them mostly came from the provinces, although some, such as the great Maiquez and Francisco Castellanos (el Tirano" (the "Tyrant") had also triumphed on the stages of Madrid.

Famous singers of the era passed through the stage of the Royal Coliseum, such as Catalina Tordesillas, María Mayor Ordóñez, “la Mayorita”, and many others. A good part of the learned element of the era, from Moratín to Cadalso, passing through Jovellanos, Goya or the musicians Blas de Laserna, Misón, Esteve, Boccherini, Rodríguez de Hita, etc., were witness to the numerous shows in the last years of the 18th century.

Manuel Godoy liked the Royal Estate and usually occupied one of the stage boxes in which he entered unnecessarily through a door open to the Plaza de la Verdura (today Benavente). Operas of Paisiello, Anfossi, Cimarosa, etc., were then adapted to Spanish, in such a way that the Royal Coliseum could maintain a certain lyric tradition, continued during Romanticism with the zarzuela.

A few years later, Isaac Albéniz, a boy who ran away from his Madrid home, made his first compositions sound on the piano of the neighbouring Hotel Miranda, former residence of the comedians.

On 30 April 1979 the new phase of the Royal Coliseum was inaugurated with a recital by the Madrid mezzo soprano Teresa Berganza and the pianist Ricardo Requejo, which was attended by Her Majesty the Queen Sofía.

Since then, through the stage of the Royal Coliseum have paraded great Spanish figures of the theatre and music, as well as the most prestigious foreign groups and soloists, above all those specialising in Baroque music.

CARLOS III ROYAL COLISEUM THEATRE
Floridablanca Street, 20	Telephone: 91 890 45 44 Web page

It is located in the Lonja to the west of the Monastery. It is the first great work of Juan de Villanueva in his professional career. The house is conceived to house the servants or families of the Princes Gabriel, Antonio Pascual and Francisco Javier during the Visits of His Majesty.

The house has a rectangular floor plan, with it long side being five times the short side, and three levels, entrance to the lower-ground floor, ground floor and main floor, in addition to the attics. The slope of the terrain caused differences in heights between the main and back façades, with Villanueva choosing to place the ground floor in the upper level, to which one can enter directly from the so-called long, narrow and service patio that separates the building from the new contention wall of the Plantel. This solution caused the appearance of a lower-ground floor, visible on the sides and basically towards the Lonja, as a blind plinth on which the building is supported, only broken in the ends with the accesses.

In the principal façade to the Lonja the order of the House of Trades and the Monastery is preserved, with a continuous rhythm and openings, whose decoration at the hand of Herrera stands out on the smooth wall surface of stone. Also the lines of the fascia alter its bareness, dividing the three levels, and the simple cornice that separates it from the sloping roof.

In the back façade, of only two floors due to the slope, greater license was permitted Villanueva, expressing the lack of references to the Monastery in the freedom of placing the openings. On the ends the roofs are raised and the combining treatment is different from the rest, reflecting the location of the compact nuclei of stairways in the interior. Here the wall is plastered and the stone is reserved for the fascias, cornices, around the openings and chains of the corners, which accentuates the intention of treating this elevation as secondary.

The death of Prince Francisco Javier caused the house to be divided between his two brothers. As Prince Antonio Pascual had no descendants, his half passed to the hands of the Crown, with the house since then acquiring the name of the Queen's House. At the wish of Alfonso XIII, the other half was acquired by the Administration of the Crown in 1925, and after the remodelling it was placed in a rental system for temporary and permanent residence.