El Escorial - Monasterio de San Lorenzo Exterior

From the outside, the Escorial - a massive pile, built of grayish white granite in the form of a rectangle 204m/669ft long by 161m/528ft wide - looks more like a fortress or a barracks than a monastery. Although conceived in the spirit of 16th century Italian classicism, it shows the beginnings of the Spanish Baroque school. At the core of the whole complex is the church with its twin towers and its 90m/295ft high dome. To the west of this is the Patio de los Reyes, to the south the cloister, with the sacristy and the chapter rooms, to the east and north the royal palace. Altogether the Escorial has 16 courtyards, 2,673 windows, 1,250 doors, 86 staircases and 88 fountains, and the corridors have a total length of 16km/10mi.