The complex was built as an enormous grid, with a huge amount of numerology and related fake science governing the building's construction. The grid pattern was supposed to be patterned after the long-lost Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, as well as the griddle on which his favorite saint, Saint Lawrence, was roasted by the Romans. But there are all sorts of rules governing the number of windows, staircases, rooms, courtyards etc that you will learn in numbing detail on a guided tour.



We decided to skip the tour and explore for ourselves, which is a good idea, but the downside is that the place is absolutely massive and mazelike, and I'm sure we missed about half of it.



Construction started in 1564 and finished about twenty years later, in time for the king to receive the news that his famous navy, the Armada, was completely wiped out in his ill advised attempted invasion of England. Unlike the other palaces littered around Europe, this was always designed by the monklike king to be primarily a religious complex that happens to house the king and the advisors governing, or attempting to govern, most of Europe. This accounts for the austere architecture of the exterior, which complements the bleak surroundings.