Valle de los Caidos
Thursday, 2nd February 2006 by James Turnbull
The Monumento Nacional de Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos (or, "National Monument of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen") not only has a really long name but is the tallest memorial cross in the world, at 152.4 metres.
The memorial was ordered by Generalissimo Francisco Franco to honor the Nationalist soldiers who died in the Spanish Civil War. It was built by thousands of Republican POWs and also features a large church where Franco and other former leaders are buried.
The current Spanish Government has been debating plans to re-designate the Valley of the Fallen as a memorial to all Spaniards killed in conflict, regardless of their political choices.
Thanks: Jonathan & Arthur Rivers
some ground level photos:
http://nodo018.bankhacker.com/pueblos/fotos/00079074.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Santa_Cruz_del_Valle_de_los_Ca%C3%ADdos.jpg
an a pair of aerial perspectives:
http://www.puertadelsolblog.com/hello/334338/640/Valle_de_los_Caidos_vista_posterior.sized-2005.03.30-10.42.17.jpg
http://www.jacob52.com/fotos/v01/valle%20de%20los%20caidos%20y%20iai.jpg
The word is “fascist”, not just “nationalist”.
At the south of “Valle de los Caidos” you can find the village “San Lorenzo de El Escorial”, and there the “Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial” which is impressively big. Here you have the wikipedia entry and photos.
Also, that is where the grave of Franco is. Pretty nice inside btw.
Impressive as it is, it is also very sad. Very similar to all those monuments erected by dictators (either fascists or communists, this fondness for huge buildings matches them all)
All of the posts are propaganda. The word also is not republican, is just communist
they were not just communist! With the word republicans, in Spain we are talking about (generally) democratical left ideas people who dont want the king as the head of the state. Italy and France for example are Republics, and so Spain before Franco. Communist, anarchist, socialist and everyone who wanted to be free, think free fought against the fascist spanish army. We usully called them “nacinales”, traslated as nacionalist, but has nothing to do with someane fighting for his country(…) because this was a war of brothers and neighbors
democratical???After the murder of the leader of the right idea people?they wanted a red revolution in Spain as the red revolution in the USSR, ….and the revolution in USSR was not democratical,like the red revolution in China…..
Tur you don’t have any idea about Spanish Civil War. Please read something. Communist were a minority in Spain. Socialists, anarchists and republicans had more power. And talking about communism, it existed two kind of them. One, the pro-stalin from the PCE of José DÃaz. The other, the anti-stalin from the POUM of Andreu Nin. I can asssure you that POUM people didn’t want a china nor ussr dictatorship.
Read, that always goes well.
It is democratical didn´t led rights spanish take the control of goverment after won the elections of 1934? it is democratical a political period where 12000 religious people was killed only because they trust a god? that is autentic comunism at the more genuine stalin style.
The problem of el vallede los cados is that there is franco and primo de rivera, the two big dictators of spain. And it’s a monument to the fascims, franco buried himselve there because it was beside where the kings are buried, and because the didn’t let him be buried in el escorial. All this things mean something, in spain there’s still fascism, and I think that the should destroy the valley.
Este es un monumento fascista, construido por presos politicos.
Será un monumento fascista, pero se construyó para conmemorar y recordar a todas las vÃctimas de la Guerra Civil Española, ya fuesen republicanos o nacionales. Fue eregido por Franco, cierto, pero repito, fue eregido para que la memoria de todos los españoles que perdieron su vida en la guerra nunca fuese olvidado, ya fuesen de un bando u otro.
The Social Security sistem of Spain was created by Franco too, why dont we destroy the Social Security together with the Valley of the Fallen?
Seriously speaking, I think the momument should be preserved and promoted. Perhaps it could be re-dedicated to all the fallen in the History of Spain, all times, all sides, but nothing else. The Valley of the Fallen is one of the most asthonishign places I have ever visited in the world.
My uncle an Irish American. Joined the the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fought and died in Spain on the side of the Republicans. When I visited Spain I went to see the Valle de los Caidos. Believe me, we dont have any kind of memorial for the American Warriors who died for their country, that can even approach the grandeur or that place. I was very impressed. When I asked if My uncle was among the names inscribed there he said he was not because he fought on the wrong side. Thousands of Spanish citizens and other nationalities died in that unnecesarry war. The unsung heroes who fought out of idealism, were enslaved and many died to build this monument to fascism. And so it goes
I was 16, when our class went to visit the monument. I climbed the mound, in order to take pictures of the beautiful sculptures of the four Saints. I was moved by the honor bestowed to the people who died. I wasn’t into politics at that age, but I knew even back then, that right or wrong doesn’t always apply, when you are honoring a fallen brother or sister. Right or wrong, this was a beautiful memorial to the soldiers, and I will always be thankful for the opportunity to be allowed to pray for Spain and for the U.S. in the chapel.
Hello, I just found a page with some great photos of the Valle de los Caidos here:
http://www.feelmadrid.com/valleyofthefallen.html
Those pictures make me want to go and visit the valley again.