Felipe II Y El Templo del Rey Salomon

Why did Philip II push for the construction of the monastery of El Escorial? Perhaps, the answer can be found in the statues of the six Jewish kings that preside over the entrance to the basilica of El Escorial Did you know that throughout his life Charles I believed he was the new King David and his son Philip wanted to emulate King Solomon? Both monarchs imitated the biblical kings and, like them, believed they were instruments in the hands of their God. Thus, Philip II, like King Solomon, built a temple that was intended to be the center of the world. What if Juan de Herrera was not only an architect but also Philip II's chief magician? In El Escorial a circle of initiates was created in which, in addition to Juan de Herrera, the librarian Benito Arias Montano, an expert in Kabbalah, stood out. Was Philip the Prudent King, as his followers called him, or the Demon of the Noon, as his enemies called him? In the pages of this book awaits a different biography of Philip II and a portrait of a Spain inhabited by heretics, beatas, mystics and enlightened. You will walk through the corridors and corridors of an unknown monastery of El Escorial, as was the monarch who promoted its construction to live and die secluded in a small alcove surrounded by relics and paintings by El Bosco. Fabulously documented! More than five centuries later, the mystery of El Escorial is still alive. Mariano F. Urresti is one of the few researchers who has approached the core of the mystery of the monastery to the point of touching it with his fingertips. Nacho Ares, director of SER Historia.