Editing Valley of the Fallen (section)

{{Short description|Spanish monumental memorial and Catholic basilica}}
{{expand Spanish|date=January 2023|topic=struct}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2021}}
[[File:SPA-2014-San Lorenzo de El Escorial-Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos).jpg|thumb|300px|Valle de Cuelgamuros viewed from the esplanade]]

The  '''Valley of Cuelgamuros''' (Spanish: ''Valle de Cuelgamuros''), until 2022 '''Valley of the Fallen''' (Spanish: ''Valle de los Caídos''), is a monument in the [[Sierra de Guadarrama]], near [[Madrid]]. The valley contains a [[Catholic]] [[basilica]] and a monumental memorial in the municipality of [[San Lorenzo de El Escorial]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14189534 |publisher=[[BBC]] |title=Fate of Franco's Valley of Fallen reopens Spain wounds |date=19 July 2011 |first=Sarah |last=Rainsford |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Decreto de 1 de abril de 1940 disponiendo se alcen Basílica, Monasterio y Cuartel de Juventudes, en la finca situada en las vertientes de la Sierra del Guadarrama (El Escorial), conocida por Cuelga-muros, para perpetuar la memoria de los caídos en nuestra Gloriosa Cruzada |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1940/093/A02240-02240.pdf |journal=[[Boletín Oficial del Estado]] |issue=93 |date=2 April 1940 |page=2240 |language=es |access-date=20 June 2019 |first=Francisco |last=Franco |author-link=Francisco Franco}}</ref> Dictator [[Francisco Franco]] ordered the construction of the monumental site in 1940; it was built from 1940 to 1958, and opened in 1959.<ref name=stats>{{cite news| title=El Valle de los Caídos en cifras y fechas| language=es|trans-title=The Valley of the Fallen in numbers and dates
| newspaper=El Mundo| date=24 August 2018 | url=https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2018/08/24/5b801f0ce2704ef2a08b45ae.html}}</ref> Franco said that the monument was intended as a "national act of atonement" and reconciliation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moreno Garrido |first=Belen |date=2 July 2010 |title=EL VALLE DE LOS CAÍDOS: UNA NUEVA APROXIMACIÓN |url=https://historia-actual.org/Publicaciones/index.php/rha/article/view/588/816 |journal=Revista de Historia Actual |language=es |volume=8 |page=32 |issue=8 |issn=1697-3305}}</ref> The site served as Franco's burial place from his death in November 1975—although it was not originally intended that he be buried there—until his exhumation on 24 October 2019 following a long and controversial legal process due to moves to remove all public glorification of his dictatorship.

The monument, considered a landmark of 20th-century Spanish architecture, was designed by [[Pedro Muguruza]] and Diego Méndez on a scale to equal, according to Franco, "the grandeur of the monuments of old, which defy time and memory". Together with the ''[[Universidad Laboral de Gijón]]'', it is the most prominent example of the original Spanish Neo-[[Herrerian]] style, which was intended to form part of a revival of [[Juan de Herrera]]'s architecture, exemplified by the nearby royal residence [[El Escorial]]. This uniquely Spanish architecture was widely used in public buildings of post-war Spain and is rooted in international [[fascism|fascist]] [[classicism]] as exemplified by [[Albert Speer]] or [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]]'s [[Esposizione Universale Roma]].

The monument precinct covers over {{convert|3360|acre|km2|order=flip}} of Mediterranean woodlands and granite boulders on the Sierra de Guadarrama hills, more than {{convert|900|m|ft}} above sea level and includes a basilica, a [[Benedictine]] abbey, a guest house, the Valley, and the ''Juanelos''—four cylindrical monoliths dating from the 16th century. The most prominent feature of the monument is the towering {{convert|150|m|ft|adj=mid|-high|abbr=off|sp=us}} [[Christian cross]], the tallest such cross in the world, erected over a [[granite]] outcrop 150 metres over the basilica esplanade and visible from over {{convert|30|km|mi|-1}} away. Work started in 1940 and took over eighteen years to complete, with the monument being officially inaugurated on 1 April 1959. According to the official ledger, the cost of the construction totalled 1,159 million [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]], funded through national lottery draws and donations. Some of the labourers were prisoners who traded their labour for a reduction in [[time served]].

The complex is owned and operated by the [[Patrimonio Nacional]], the Spanish governmental heritage agency, and ranked as the third most visited monument of the Patrimonio Nacional in 2009. The Spanish [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|social democrat]] government closed the complex to visitors at the end of 2009, citing safety reasons connected to restoration on the façade. The decision was controversial, as the closure was attributed by some people to the [[Historical Memory Law]] enacted during [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]]'s premiership,<ref name=Diario>{{cite news |url=http://www.diariodelasierra.es/2010/02/11/una-decision-que-traera-polemica-ordenan-el-cierre-del-valle-de-los-caidos-por-tiempo-indefinido |title=Una decisión que traerá polémica: Ordenan el cierre del Valle de los Caídos por tiempo indefinido |trans-title=A controversial decision: The indefinite closure of the Valley of the Fallen is ordered |access-date=26 April 2010 |newspaper=Diario de la Sierra |date=10 February 2010 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216130435/http://www.diariodelasierra.es/2010/02/11/una-decision-que-traera-polemica-ordenan-el-cierre-del-valle-de-los-caidos-por-tiempo-indefinido |archive-date=16 February 2010}}</ref> and there were claims that the Benedictine community was being persecuted.<ref>{{cite news |first=Juan Diego |last=Quesada |url=http://www.elpais.com/solotexto/articulo.html?xref=20101115elpepinac_12&type=Tes&anchor=elpepunac |title=El prior del Valle de los Caídos: "Nos persiguen como en 1934" |trans-title=The Prior of the Valley of the Fallen: "We are being persecuted like in 1934" |newspaper=[[El País]] |date=15 November 2010 |language=es |access-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729/http://www.elpais.com/solotexto/articulo.html?xref=20101115elpepinac_12&type=Tes&anchor=elpepunac |archive-date=29 July 2012}}</ref> The works{{clarify|date=November 2021}} include the [[Pietà]] sculpture prominently featured at the entrance of the crypt, using hammers and heavy machinery.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/04/23/madrid/1272015241.html |title=El desmontaje de 'La Piedad' del Valle de los Caídos, a 'mazazo limpio' |access-date=26 April 2010 |newspaper=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]] |date=23 April 2010 |publisher=[[Unidad Editorial]] Internet, S.L. |language=es |author=Europa Press |author-link=Europa Press (news agency)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elvalledeloscaidos.es/ |quote=Images that show how the sculpture is being destroyed |work=Association for the Protection of the Valley of the Fallen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923020224/http://www.elvalledeloscaidos.es/ |archive-date=23 September 2010 |title=El Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid acepta a trámite el Recurso Contencioso Administrativo interpuesto por la Asociación para la Defensa del Valle, contra el cierre de todo el recinto del Valle de los Caídos |access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref>