ESCORIAL or ESCURIAL, in Spain, is one of the most re markable buildings in Europe, comprising a convent, a church, a palace and a mausoleum. It is situated in wild and barren coun try 3,432 f t. above the sea, on the south-western slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama, within the borders of the province of Madrid and the kingdom of New Castile. By the Madrid-Avila railway it is 31 m. N.W. of Madrid.
According to the usual tradition, the Escorial owes its existence to a vow made by Philip II. of Spain (1556-98), shortly after the battle of St. Quentin, in which his forces succeeded in routing the army of France. The day of the victory (Aug. 10, was sacred to St. Laurence, and the building was dedicated to that saint, and received the title of El real monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial. The last distinctive epithet was derived from the little hamlet in the vicinity which furnished shelter, not only to the workmen, but to the monks of St. Jerome, who were afterwards to be in possession of the monastery ; and the hamlet is generally supposed to derive its name from the scoriae or dross of certain old iron mines. The work was entrusted to Juan Bautista de Toledo, and the first stone was laid in April 1563. On the death of Toledo in 1567 a worthy successor was found in Juan Herrera. On Sept. 13, 1584, the last stone of the masonry was laid.
The ground plan of the building is estimated to occupy an area of 396,782 sq.ft. There are seven towers, 15 gateways and, ac cording to Los Santos, no fewer than 12,000 windows and doors. The church is the finest portion of the whole Escorial and ranks as one of the great Renaissance churches of Europe. It is about 340 ft. from east to west by 200 from north to south, and thus occupies an area of about 70,00o sq.ft. The dome is 6o ft. in diameter, and its height at the centre is about 32o ft. Directly under the altar is situated the pantheon or royal mausoleum, a richly decorated octagonal chamber. The library, situated above the principal portico, was at one time one of the richest in Europe, comprising the king's own collection, the spoils of the emperor of Morocco, Muley Zidan (1603-1628) and various contributions from convents, churches, cities and private libraries. Among its curiosities still extant are two New Testament Codices of the loth century and two of the I fib; ; various works by Alphonso the Wise (1252-84), a Virgil of the i4th century and a Koran of the 15th.
Of the artistic treasures with which the Escorial was gradually enriched, it is sufficient to mention the frescoes of Pellegrino Tibaldi, Luis de Carbajal, Bartolommeo Carducci or Carducho and Luca Giordano, the crucifix of Cellini and the pictures of Titian, Tintoretto, El Greco and Velasquez. After the conflagra tion of 1671, only the church, a part of the palace, and two towers escaped uninjured. In 18o8 the whole building was exposed to the ravages of the French soldiers. In 1872, the college and seminary, a part of the palace and the upper library were devastated by fire; but the damage was subsequently re paired. In 1885 the conventual buildings were occupied by Augus tinian monks.