The Escurial stands under the side of a very high mountain; it has a
very fine river, and a very large park well stored with deer: it is
built upon a hill, and you ascend above half a mile through a double
row of elm-trees to the house, which is abundantly served with most
excellent water and wood for their use. The front has a large platform
paved with marble, and railed with a stone baluster round about; the
entry of the gate is supported by two marble pillars, each of them of
one entire marble, which are near twelve feet high. It is built with
seventeen courts and gardens thereunto; every court contains a
different office; the whole is built of rough marble, with pillars of
the same round the cloisters; and the walls thereof are made so
smooth, that the famous Titian hath painted them with stories all
over, among others, the story of the battle of Lepanto, and the
gallery of the palace also: they have infinite numbers of fountains,
both within and without house. It contains a very fine palace, a
convent, and a college and hospital, all which are exactly well kept
and royally furnished; but I cannot omit saying, that the finest
stillatory I ever saw is there, being a very large room shelved round,
with glasses sized and sorted upon the shelves, many of crystal gilt,
and the rest of Venice glasses, and some of vast sizes; the floor is
paved with black and white marble; and in the middle stands a furnace,
with five hundred stills around it, with glass like a pyramid, with
glass heads.
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