99% Invisible

99% Invisible

Valley of the Fallen

July 29, 202035 min

0:0035:00

About this episode

About an hour northwest of Madrid, an enormous stone crucifix rises 500 feet out of a rocky mountaintop. It’s so big you can see it from miles away. Beneath the cross, there’s a sprawling Benedictine monastery and a basilica carved out of the mountain. This place is called The Valley of the Fallen. And it’s likely the most controversial monument in Spain. The Valley is synonymous with Francisco Franco, the general who ruled Spain from the end of its bloody civil war in 1939 until his death in 19

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99% Invisible

Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we've just stopped noticing. A weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture.

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