Did you know that Philip II built the Monastery of El Escorial to fight the devil?

He was looking for a good place in the mountains close to Madrid to commemorate the victory in the battle of Saint Quentin (that happened in France in 1557, August 10th, feast day of Saint Lawrence). At the same time the place could include an elegant burial place for his father, the Emperor Charles I, (died in 1558), his mother, his first wife, and many other members of the Habsburg family, as well as for him in future. He was planning a huge building, with the pantheon, a big basilica (so they could have masses in the memory of the deceased), a monastery for 100 monks, an impressive library and a palace where he could live sometimes. And it would be devoted to Saint Lawrence, so to commemorate the battle of Saint Quentin.

His assistants gave him several options for locations, but he was interested in El Escorial because of a dark story he has had heard about it...

There was an iron mine in this place, with deep tunnels and long passages. The word “escorial” comes from “escoria” (dross from the mine) as it was littered here. According to the legend, the mine was the hell’s door, and the devil came in and out through it. Obsessed as the king was with religion, he could not allow that!

Studying the location on different maps, they realized that place was at the same parallel than Rome. What a coincidence! When the king found that out, he decided it was the perfect place. (Today we know Rome is at parallel 41st and El Escorial at number 40th, but in that time, they thought there were exactly the same). Rome was the heart of the Catholic faith, and El Escorial would be a new symbol. Same position to symbolize the same moral importance. He was more Catholic than the Pope!