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Royal Library of the Monastery of El Escorial
Location San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain
Date 1575
Architect Juan de Herrera
Type of library Royal Monastery Library
website address http://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/presenta/servicio/bibesc.htm
Local Name
Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial
Visiting Address
Avda. D. Juan de Borbon, 1, 28200 San Lorenzo de
El Escorial, Madrid, Spain
Opening Hours
The Main Hall is open every day, except Monday,
10.00 - 19.00 Summer, 10.00 - 18.00 Winter
Researchers Room: Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00 to 14.00
Brief History
The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial lies north
west of Madrid. Its construction was begun in 1563, on the
orders of Felipe II, to commemorate the Spanish victory over
the French at St. Quinten in 1557. In 1984, UNESCO declared
the monastery a Monument of Worldwide Interest.
The Library, located on the second floor, was designed by
architect, Juan de Herrera, as a great hall. The Salon Principal
is 19 metres long, 10 metres wide and 8 metres high. The floor
is grey marble,
and the large bookcases (armaria) are of wood.
The books are
placed with the spines toward the inside, so that
the pages
can air. The vaulted ceiling is decorated with Renaissance
frescoes by Pellegrino Tibaldi.
Special Interest
Apart from its great beauty, the library of the Escorial was
also
renowned for the size and quality of its collection of
codices and
incunabula. The collection suffered badly in 1671,
when a great
fire destroyed nearly 4,000 codices, including
2,000 Arabic
manuscripts.
But the library still has an extremely rich collection, which
includes Arab and Hebrew manuscripts, and the personal library
of Felipe II. Alfonso X’s Cantigas de Santa María, the Book of
Hours of the Catholic monarchs, Santa Teresa’s manuscripts and
diary, the gold-scrolled Aureus Codex (1039), and an 11th
century Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beato de Liébana are
just a few of the manuscripts.
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