On Wednesday, August 3 after my finals I went on a field trip to what must be one of the strangest historical sites in all of Europe, The Valley of the Fallen. The Valley was commissioned by totalian dictator, Francisco Franco after his victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939 with the help of German and Italian forces. Spain was in ruins from the war when Franco decided to build the church built into a mountain just north of Madrid, to serve as a resting place for his side’s dead (later all dead from the war would be able to rest there along with Franco himself after his death in 1975). Those that built the Valley worked under slave-like conditions (many Spaniards say that they saw people falling to their deaths off of the 500-foot stone cross that sits on top of the mountain.) The Basilica is huge. A gate had to put in the tunnel that is inside of the mountain so that it would not be larger than Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It is a very dominating place. The 500 foot granite cross and giant statues that mark the entrance to the tunnel remind of something that the Empire in Star Wars would construct. Franco lost power when he died in 1975. Many living Spanish citizens remember his time in power. Some Spaniards refuse to ever visit the Valley. The Valley in also a popular meeting place for skinheads that approve of Franco and other past European dictators. There are many opinions in Spain about the Valley. Our tour guide, Pedro, seemed a bit uncomfortable being there. However, it is a functioning church. They have mass and even weddings at the Basilica. The monks of a monastery on the other side of the mountain deal with the Basilica´s upkeep.
I don´t feel like I have enough knowledge of the Spanish Civil War, (a real topic of interest for Ernest Hemingway during his lifetime) or Franco´s rule in Spain to have opinion on the Valley of the Fallen. However, I think that I will be glad that I visited it as I get older. I think that my mother would enjoy the tour of the Valley of the Fallen. It is a very interesting and historic place even though that history is a bit unpleasant.
1 comment:
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