Madrid, Day Four, June 27th.

The first sight upon entering the Valley of the Fallen is the 500ft granite cross that towers above the trees and stretches to touch the sky. I was frantic with my camera, taking pictures of this amazing feat of construction, trying to wrap my mind around how such a thing could be built in the 1940's. Inside the building was another cathedral, and the holiness of it was once again evident, and the dim lights lent to a rather serious atmosphere. More interesting than the cross and the interior, however, was the history behind the Valley itself. It was ordered to construction by Franco, the old dictator of Spain, and I find myself very curious about this man and the Civil War. While all of Spanish history has become very interesting to me, I want to know more about the Civil War, and the Valley of the Fallen just intensified my curiosity. It was such a dark time in Spanish history, but I was only given vague details. Surely, it couldn't just be a battle between left and right, communism and fascism? I'll have to remember to research this later.

After the Valley of the Fallen was El Escorial, the palace ordered to be built by King Felipe the 2nd when he was no longer king. It was a rather sharp contrast to the artistic, wealthy Palacio Real, whereas El Escorial is rather austere in appearance. What I found to be the most interesting here was the gravesite beneath the building. It was built a century after the rest of El Escorial, and so the style of it was rather different than the rest. It was built with marble and gilded bronze, and was rather rich in appearance. An interesting fact I learned was that the bodies are now placed above acid in a wooden coffin, and left there for 20-25 years until they're nothing but bones, and only when they're bones can they be placed in the graves. I found this to be fascinating. What can I say? I enjoy the morbid.

While El Escorial was interesting, I still find Valley of the Fallen to be the most interesting out of the two sights, given the history behind it. How do the people of Spain even feel about Franco? Surely not warmly, and what are the details of the Civil War? These are questions I hope to have answered and will research myself because of the Valley of the Fallen.