Valle de los Caídos

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The Monumento Nacional de Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos ("National Monument of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen") is a monumental memorial site erected at Cuelgamuros in the Guadarrama Valley near Madrid, Spain, as conceived by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, to honour those who fell during the Spanish Civil War and as a national act of atonement. Underneath the monument lie the remains of 40,000 — roughly 50% per faction^{[citation needed]} — whose names are accounted for in the monument registrar. However, the tone of the monument is distinctly Nationalist and anticommunist; the supposed balance is rather upset by the inscription "¡Caídos por Dios y por España!" (to "those who fell for God and for Spain") — very few of those who fought and died on the Republican side did so "for God".^{[citation needed]}

A valley located 10 km northeast of the royal site of El Escorial was dedicated to the purpose on 1 April, 1940, and includes the world's largest basilica, hewn out of a granite ridge, and the tallest memorial cross in the world, a 152.4 metre high magnificent construction of stone.

The shrine, a landmark in 20th century Spanish architecture designed by Pedro Muguruza and Diego Méndez on a scale to equal "the grandeur of the monuments of old, which defy time and forgetfulness" (Franco). It is laid out in uniquely Spanish Neo-Herrerian style, which was intended as a revival of Juan de Herrera’s classicist architecture exemplified in the Escorial. This architecture was widely used in public buildings of post-war Spain and is rooted on the International classicism exemplified by Albert Speer or Mussolini's E.U.R.

The monumental hieratic sculptures over the main gate and the base of the cross culminated the career of Juan de Ávalos. It consists of a wide explanada with a spectacular view of the valley and the outskirts of Madrid in the distance. A long vaulted tunnelled crypt was cut out of solid granite by twelve thousand political prisoners working without pay^{[citation needed]}. It pierces the mountain to the massive transept, which lies exactly below the cross. A Benedictine monastery on the other side of the mountain houses priests who say the perpetual masses. In 1960, Pope John XXIII declared the underground crypt a basilica. On the wrought-iron gates, Franco's neo-Habsburg double-headed eagle is prominently displayed. On entering the basilica, visitors are flanked by two large metal statues of art deco angels holding swords.

There is a funicular that connects the basilica with the base of the cross, but access to the top of the cross is not allowed. Initially the dimensions of the underground basilica were larger than those of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and to avoid competition, a wall was built near the entrance.

In 1975, after Franco's death, the site was designated by the interim government as the burial place for the Caudillo, who actually did not desire to be buried in the valley, but in Madrid. Unlike the fallen of the civil war who were laid to rest in the valley exterior to the basilica, Franco was buried inside the church. A simple tombstone in the central nave of the basilica, engraved with his name and dates of birth and death, marks the spot of his grave.

Today the Valle de los Caídos is a popular tourist site and every November 20th is marked by memorial celebrations of Franco's nostalgic fans and Falange activists. Spain's Socialist Government has been debating plans to redesignate the Valley of the Fallen a "monument to Democracy" or as a memorial to all Spaniards killed in conflict [1].

[edit] Controversy

Those buried in the Valley of the Fallen, however, are thousands of Nationalist soldiers; the few former Republicans buried there were added among the collection of unknown soldiers assembled from temporary graves at the end of the war. Franco's timing of his announcement of the decision to create the monument left no doubts: it was 1 April 1940, the day of the victory parade to celebrate the first anniversary of his triumph over the Republic, Franco announced his personal decision to raise a splendid monument to those who had fallen in his cause [2].

The use of convict labor has been controversial. According to the project records, no more than 2,000 workers participated directly in the construction^{[citation needed]}, some of them highly skilled, as required by the complexity of the work. These convicts at the work place included those convicted of political crimes. As an incentive, the 1940 Spanish law recognized the possibility to redeem two days of conviction for each working day. This benefit was increased to six days when labour was carried out at the Holy Cross.

In the building of the monument, Republican political prisoners were forced to participate in a regime of forced exploitation^{[citation needed]}, and thus "redeemed" part of the sentence imposed on them for defending their political ideas. During the 18-year construction period 14 workers died.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• WAIS Forum on Spain, 2003: "Spain: the Valley of the Fallen": includes quote from Franco's decree, April 1, 1940
• El Valle de los Caidos: an apologetic account (in Spanish)
• http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1027
• The Valley of the Fallen - History and Photos.

Spanish royal sites
Palaces: Palacio Real de Madrid | Zarzuela | El Escorial | El Pardo | Aranjuez | La Granja | Riofrío | Alcázares de Sevilla | La Almudena
Royal monasteries: Descalzas Reales | La Encarnación | Sta. Clara de Tordesillas | Las Huelgas | Valle de los Caídos
Sanctuaries under royal patronage: Panteón de Hombres Ilustres | San Pascual | Sta. Isabel | Colegio de Doncellas Nobles