El Escorial interior

Inside the Escorial are a number of inner courts ("patios"), the main one being the Patio de los Reyes which faces the basilica. The Patio de los Evangelistas is a garden surrounded by the cloister. The layout of the Escorial is the one of a grid, with wings surrounding square open spaces. According to a theory the layout of the Escorial is either based on descriptions of the Temple of Solomon or on the gridiron on which St Lawrence, the patron of the basilica, was martyred.