Benedictine Abbey of Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos

A grandiose funeral monument built between 1940 and 1956 in memory of the victims of the 1936 Spanish Civil War. It comprises a huge stone cross and the basilica itself.

The Santa Cruz Basilica is located some 13 km north of El Escorial, at a site known as the 'Valle de los Caídos' ('valley of the fallen'). It is a grandiose funeral monument built between 1940 and 1956 in memory of the victims of the 1936 Civil War. It comprises a huge stone cross and the basilica itself, carved out of the rock. The structure of the basilica is formed by an open transept with a dome decorated with mosaics, and a crypt dug out of the rock, the site of the main altar. In the crypt are the tombs of José Antonio Primo de Rivera and Francisco Franco, amongst others.