Valle De Los Caidos

About 15 kilometers from El Escorial (see article on El Escorial of 9 March 2001) is the Valley of the Fallen (Valle De Los Caidos). Like El Escorial, it is also a burial place and monastery. The burial chamber lies inside a mountain. The temple, dedicated to the soldiers of the Spanish Civil War, is of monumental proportions, crowned by a huge cross and several sculptures by Juan de Avalos. The main basilica is an excavation within a mountain with a long stairway leading to the entrance.

From 1936 to 1939 a Civil War tore Spain apart. Many of Spain’s army officers revolted against the Spanish government in 1936. General Francisco Franco was chosen as the leader of the rebels. Franco’s forces were known as Nationalists or Rebels. Loyalists or Republicans were the names given to the forces that supported Spain’s elected government. During this period of history the Spanish Civil War drew worldwide attention.

The Nationalists were assisted by troops, weapons, aircraft and advisers sent by Hitler and Mussolini. The only power to help the Loyalists was the Soviet Union. France, Britain, and the United States decided not to become involved. But the Loyalists had many sympathizers who joined the International Brigades that the Communists formed to fight in Spain.

On 1 April 1939 the last Loyalist forces surrendered. Franco then set up a dictatorship in Spain. The Spanish Civil War served in many ways as a military proving ground for World War II because Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union used it to test weapons and tactics. An understanding of some of these aspects of Spain’s history helps the visitor to gain a greater insight into the Valley of the Fallen.

Construction of the Valle De Los Caidos began in the 1940s by order of General Francisco Franco who, after the Civil War, was now Head of the Spanish State. The monument was supposedly meant as a memorial to soldiers from both sides of the Civil War. Many, however, say that it was old Republicans and other political unfortunates in Franco’s jails who did the work in the 1950s. They were the ones who blasted a 245 meter tunnel-like church out of the mountainside, erecting a 150 meter stone cross above.

The cross, held up by structural steel, is claimed to be the largest in the world. Around its base are a series of titanic sculptured figures consisting of lions, eagles and pensive giants. The view takes in the hills and valleys for miles as well as the monastery Franco built for the monks who look after the basilica below.

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