Funicular of Valle de los Caídos, Mountain funicular in Valley of Cuelgamuros, Spain.
The Funicular of Valle de los Caídos is a cable railway set into the granite slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama, near San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, linking two stations across a span of around 270 meters. The line climbs roughly 120 meters at a 28-degree incline, using two coaches each built to carry 40 passengers.
The funicular was built in 1975, shortly after the basilica was completed, to give visitors easier access to the memorial grounds on the slope above. It was overhauled twice, in 1987 and again in 2004, before being taken out of service.
The funicular shaft leads to the base of the enormous granite cross that towers over the Valley of Cuelgamuros and can be seen from far across the surrounding hills. Reaching the foot of the cross on foot gives visitors a very different sense of the scale of the whole memorial site.
The funicular has been out of service since 2009, so visitors currently cannot use it to reach the upper part of the site. It is worth checking before your visit whether alternative access to the memorial area is available.
The tracks and structure of the funicular are still visible along the steep granite face, even though the system has not run for more than 15 years. The closure was not caused by a mechanical failure but by concerns over falling rocks from the surrounding cliffs.
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