Imperial Route of the Community of Madrid
Spanish regional tourist itinerary / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Imperial Route of the Community of Madrid is the tourist itinerary promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of this Spanish region, which runs through several municipalities in the Sierra de Guadarrama. It partially follows the historical road that led to the Monastery of El Escorial, used in the 16th century by King Philip II in his travels from the city of Madrid to the Royal Site.
The Imperial Route has as its central core this monument, which, in 1984, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with the entire Royal Site. This extends over the municipalities of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and El Escorial, where there are buildings, engineering works and gardens of great historical and artistic value. In the former, in addition to the Royal Monastery, the Casas de Oficios and the Casita del Infante (or "de Arriba") stand out, and in the latter, the Casita del Príncipe (or "de Abajo").[1]
This monumental complex is complemented by the tourist offer offered by different municipalities near the Monastery, belonging both to the region of the Sierra Oeste de Madrid and to that of the Guadarrama basin. In them, there is a modest but relevant artistic heritage and the existence of natural areas of great scenic and environmental interest.