On 2 November 1984 UNESCO included the Monastery and Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial on the UNESCO World Heritage List based on the following criteria:

• Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius (criterion I)
• Exert considerable influence on the subsequent development of Spanish architecture (criterion II)
• Be associated with events of outstanding universal significance. (criterion VI).

In 2012 UNESCO established the limit of the declaration of the Monastery and Site of El Escorial, including within:

• Real Monasterio
• Jardines históricos del Real Monasterio
• Primera y Segunda Casa de Oficios
• Casa de la Compaña
• Casa del Secretario de Estado
• Casa de los Infantes y de la Reina
• Casa del Príncipe Don Carlos, o de abajo (Casa, jardines y parque)
• Casa del Infante Don Gabriel, o de arriba (Casa y jardines)

In 2014 UNESCO also recognised its Outstanding Universal Value.

We invite you to begin your tour from the bus station. Heading out along Calle Juan de Leyva you will reach the  House of the Marquis of Campo Villar (18th century). Continue as far as Calle Duque de Medinacelli and turn left towards  Plaza de San Lorenzo.

Then follow Calle Reina Victoria and take in the  la House of Columns or Stalls, built in the middle of the  19th century. From here continue to  Plaza de la Constitución, where the Town Hall stands, and the festival in honour of the local patron saint is held. Take great care heading round to the left along Calle Floridablanca, with the House of the First Secretary of State opposite. (18th century).

A few metres further along you will reach the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace, followed by the Second House of Offices (16th century), and then the First House of Offices which is home to the Cultural Centre exhibition gallery. On the right is the Royal Coliseum of Carlos III and behind it Plaza de Jacinto Benavente. Further along the same side of the street you will see the Royal Garrison (18th century), now occupied by shops and restaurants.

Continue as far as Plaza de la Virgen de Gracia, known locally as the “Labyrinth”, and the site of the Park, where festive events are staged. Continue along the same pavement and you will reach the Royal Monastery (16th century), giving visitors an impression of the scale of Herrera’s architecture. A few metres further on, alongside the Tourist Office, is the entrance to La Lonja, a large open area surrounding the landmark building. Continue along the same pavement and you will reach the  House of the Queen and Princes (18th century); and alongside, the House of the Company (16th century), a former guest house and support building for the Monastery. It is now the site of the Escorial María Cristina Royal University Centre. It is at this point that the route ends.

This journey through the 18th century begins at the exit from the Tourist Office. If you look down at the ground in La Lonja, you will see a series of iron ventilation holes running between the entry to the Monastery and Calle Grimaldi, indicating the route of what was known as the Montalvo Mine (1), an underground passageway connecting the Monastery with the Second House of Offices, providing a route via one arch which still stands on Calle Grimaldi, and another which no longer exists on Calle Floridablanca from the First House of Offices, to the Royal Coliseum of Carlos III (2), where this route continues.

Head right down Floridablanca and you will come to other buildings dating from the same century, such as what is known as the Milanese Inn (3), on the corner of San Antón, while further up the street are the unusual features of the House of Francisco Martínez de Sobral (4), known as the Stone Balcony House. Head back down Floridablanca to the Royal Barracks of the Spanish and Walloon Infantry (5).

At the end of Calle Floridablanca, cross over Plaza de la Virgen de Gracia and head a little way down the station highway. On the left is the House of the Families of the Princes Carlos María Isidro and Francisco de Paula (6), which is now the Euroforum Infantes. You could stop off here to visit the House of the Heir Apparent, or Lower House (21), the entrance to which is located opposite. This would involve a detour of one kilometre downhill and another on the return leg uphill.

At the end of the path, head along Calle del Rey from the square, as far as the King’s Coach Houses (7), which are home to the Museum of History and Carriages. Opposite this building is another landmark known as the House of the French Consul (8), the first in the town designed by the architect  Juan de Villanueva.

Further up Calle Patriarca you will reach the pedestrianised Calle Juan de Leyva, the site of another of Juan de Villanueva buildings: the Rental House of the Marquis of Campo Villar (9). Head around the house to the left and along Calle Santiago to Plazuela de Santiago. On the left is Calle del Duque de Alba, the site of the House of the Duke of Arcos, formerly known as the Duke of Alba (10). At the end of the street, continue upwards to take in the House of the Duke of Medinaceli (11), which has now been refurbished. Returning towards Calle del Rey you will reach Plaza de San Lorenzo, the site of another private house designed by Juan Esteban in 1771, the House of Felipe Díaz Bamonte (12).

Back on Calle del Rey, cross Plaza de San Lorenzo and take Calle Reina Victoria, where you will find the House of Stalls or Columns (13). Further on you will reach the centre of the town, and Plaza de la Constitución. From there, take Calle de las Pozas to admire the Garrison of Invalids and Mounted Volunteers (14). Alongside, on Calle del Rey, stands the Public Market (15), originally the “Great house for the storage of wines, supplies of dried goods, fish, bacon and other sectors”. None of the original building erected in 1797 still survives.

Further on is one of the buildings which has retained its medical function down to the present day: the San Carlos Hospital (16). Built by Juan Esteban in 1771, it has now been refurbished.

Head back down to Plaza de la Constitución and past the Town Hall as far as Calle Gobernador, to admire the Mayoral House (17). Further along, on Calle Floridablanca, is the Third House of Offices (18), also known as the House of the First Secretary of State. Continuing further down along Calle Floridablanca you will see some steps off to the right, on Calle Capilla: head down these as far as the La Lonja enclosure. Opposite the northern façade of the Monastery, to the right you will pass by in front of the House of the Princes and the Queen (19).

The 18th-century route takes us as far as the House of the Prince (20)  around 1000 metres further along Paseo de Carlos III. The last sight to be visited is the House of the Heir Apparent (21) heading down towards the town of El Escorial.

This tour around the 16th century begins at the Tourist Office, heading out towards the large open space known as La Lonja (1), bounded by a small wall. On the other side is the northern façade of the building which houses the entrance and ticket offices of the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (2) which can be visited. Continuing to the right along the façade you will reach what is known is the Stone of Santa Teresa (3) at one corner of the landmark.

The entrance to the Monastery Basilica is on the western façade (4). When you leave the building, head to the entrance to La Lonja opposite you. Cross to the other side and continue left as far as the arches of the Arcos de la Compaña (5). Just below the arcade on the left is the entrance to the Friars’ Garden (6), for which there is no entry charge. You will enter via the Monastery Infirmary, with the Convalescents’ Gallery (7) visible from the gardens. The gardens themselves offer outstanding views. To the right is the lake (8) which stores the water used to irrigate the Friars’ Kitchen Garden (9) below. Look to the right, meanwhile, and you will see the building that houses the Snow Shaft (10).

Leaving the gardens on the left you will reach a viewing platform (11), which is the perfect spot to take a photo of the southern façade of the Monastery with the gardens at its feet.

Head back a short way towards the arches and up the  Paseo de los Alamillos promenade as far as the House of the Company (12), which is now the Escorial-María Cristina Royal University Centre, with the Adolfo Suárez Park opposite. On the other side of the park two columns mark the entrance to the Woodland of La Herrería (13), with a short circular path route running around it.

Back at the entrance, head down Calle Leandro Rubio, the main street of the beautiful neighbourhood of El Plantel (14), named for the trees that Felipe II ordered to be planted, including species such as holm oaks, chestnuts, oaks and hazelnuts.

At the end of Calle Leandro Rubio head down Calle Floridablanca, with the famous House of Jacometrezo (15) on the left, the oldest in the town. This stone building dates from when work on the Monastery first began. Located right on the edge of El Plantel, it was home to the Italian sculptor Jacomo da Trezzo.

Head down Calle Floridablanca, and through some windows on the right you will see some beautiful, overgrown ruins with huge chimneys rising from outside what was once the Slate House (16), at the vertex of La Lonja, and which formerly provided accommodation for the gatekeeper of the King’s kitchen, the servants and the convent’s wicker-worker. Further along, as you reach Plaza de la Constitución, on the corner with Calle Floridablanca stands the Doctors’ House (17).

Continuing down Calle Floridablanca, on the right you will come to the Houses of Offices. The first of these is in fact the Second House of Offices (18), home to the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace, the patron saint of the town, in whose honour a pilgrimage declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest is held on the second Sunday in September. Further down, on the other side of Calle Grimaldi you will reach the First House of Offices (19), which contains a number of exhibition rooms and a functions hall which serves as the venue for various types of event.