Valley of the Fallen, Spain

In the Quelgamuros Valley, in the womb of the Sierra de Guadarrama, 9 km north of the Escorial Monastery, the Valley of the Fallen or the Abbey of the Holy Cross at the Valley of the Fallen, proudly preserves the spirit of its creator Generalisumo-Francisco Franco and 33872 others who died during the Spanish Civil War.
He relied on the fame of an ideologue of the Immerian-poetic beginnings in monumental architecture and led by his desire to the memorial complex in the Valley of the Fallen to serve as a monument, representing the place where in the world of the dead to achieve brotherhood, which in the world of the living was not possibly, Francisco Franco chooses Pedro Muguruza to make his conceptual project a reality.
Construction began in 1940 and was completed in 1958 to see Franco carry out the most intimate and innermost part of his plan - the reburial of the bones of the phalanx's founder Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, buried in front of the altar. Entering unnoticed into the force field of this tomb, one imperceptibly finds oneself in the place that Francisco Franco Baamonde determined for himself during his lifetime and where he was laid after his death.
Experience with all your being the spirit of heroism and glory of each one who gave his life for the great cause, seeing the Valley of the Fallen, sheltered in his arms Benedictine abbey, dug into the rocks basilica, where the tombs of Franco and Primo de Rivera and eight the chapel in which soldiers from both sides are buried. Take a look at the basilica and you will see the largest Christian cross in the world, 150 meters high and visible from a distance of 40 km, standing on two foundations. On the first foundation, at a height of 25 m, are placed the sculptures of the four evangelists and their symbols - the eagle and John the Theologian, the bull and Luke, the lion and Marco and the winged man and Matthew - made by Juan de Avalos.
On the second foundation, at a height of 42 meters, are presented the four main virtues: prudence, courage, moderation in everything and justice. Chosen to contribute to the construction of the Valley of the Fallen complex, Jose Espinos Alonso, referring to drawings by Diego Mendes, unmistakably combines polished granite and gilded iron relief representing the Holy Burial and the Last Supper. Thus he succeeded in completing the entirely sacred High Altar with a large vault of multicolored mosaics, the idea and execution of Santiago Radros. On the altar there is a wooden cross made of juniper with a figure of Christ crucified on it, made by Julio Beovide.
Behind him is the tomb of Franco, and in front of him - the tomb of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, surrounded by four bronze archangels made by Juan de Avalos. And so the Valley of the Fallen monumental complex becomes a cherished place where future generations pay tribute to those who gave their lives to achieve a better Spain.