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The Cibeles fountain (better known simply as the people of Madrid’s Cibeles) in the city is Spanish in Madrid , in the plaza of the same name . He settled in 1782 in the Salón del Prado , near the Palacio de Buenavista , facing the fountain of Neptune (now at the center of the Plaza de Canovas del Castillo , in the Paseo del Prado near the Palacio de Villahermosa , current Thyssen Museum -Bornemisza , and the Hotel Palace ). Includes the Read the rest of this entry »

El Campo Del Moro is a city garden in Spanish in Madrid . Declared a historic-artistic interest in 1931 , occupies a surface of about 20 acres, extending from east to west, from the western facade of the Palacio Real to the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto. From north to south with its boundaries set by the Cuesta de San Vicente (north side) and the Cuesta de la Vega and the Park of Athens (south side).

The gardens save a steep slope, caused by Read the rest of this entry »

The Teatro Real (literally Royal Theatre) or simply El Real (as it is known colloquially), is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.

Europe is literally littered with palaces spanning the medieval era and beyond and Spain is no exception to this trend. However, Read the rest of this entry »

The hallmark of any great city is its urban park! Commonly located at the center of its core, urban parks play a significant role in providing traffic-choked cities with much-needed green lungs. As well as recreation, sporting and cultural venues for residents and visitors alike. Here’s a look at some of the larger urban parks from across the world, as seen in through the lens of Google Earth.

The Buen Retiro Park (Jardines del Buen Retiro or Parque del Buen Retiro, literally “Gardens” or “Park of the Pleasant Retreat”, or simply El Retiro) is the largest park of the city of Madrid, Spain.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is a spectacular urban oasis of 1.4 km2 (350 acres) ( 130 hectares) park of aromatic bay leaf trees, ponds, rose gardens, stunning fountains and museums, at the edge of the city center, very close to the Puerta de Alcalá and not far from the Prado Museum. The Retiro Park features the former grounds of Real Sitio del Buen Retiro Palace, a 17th century weekend palace of King Philips IV. Although the original palace has since been torn down, two remaining palace buildings remain within the park, which now serve as museums. The main park entrance sits behind the Alcala Gate in the Plaza de la Independence.

The park belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century, when it became a public park.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is the most popular park in Madrid. It can get crowded during weekends when many Madrilenian families go for a stroll in the park and street musicians, sidewalk painters, fortune tellers, jugglers and street performers animate the crowd.

Features of the Park

Close to the northern entrance of the park is the Estanque del Retiro (“Retiro Pond”), a large artificial pond. Next to it is the monument to King Alfonso XII, featuring a semicircular colonnade and an equestrian statue of the monarch on the top of a tall central core.

The Rosaleda rose garden, among the many rose bushes of all kinds stands the Fountain of the Falling Angel, erected in 1922, whose main sculpture El Angel Caído (at the top) is a work by Ricardo Bellver (1845–1924) inspired by a passage from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, which represents Lucifer falling from Heaven. It is claimed that this statue is the only known public monument of the devil.

The Artichoke fountain has been a beloved Madrid landmark since architect; Ventura Rodriguez constructed it from granite and white stone in 1781. Originally located in the Glorieta de Atocha, a busy Madrid street, it was relocated to the Retiro Park because all the attention it garnered caused traffic problems. The fountain features an elaborate baroque design complete with tritons, Greek gods and of course, an artichoke.

The few remaining buildings of the Buen Retiro Palace, including Casón del Buen Retiro and the Museo del Ejército, now house museum collections. The Casón has a collection of 19th and 20th century paintings, including art by the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla. The Ejército is one of Spain’s foremost Army museums and it houses “La Tizona” the sword of the famous Spanish warrior El Cid. There are displays of armor, a cross carried by Christopher Columbus on his sea voyage to the New World and other artifacts.

Since assuming its role as a public park the late 19th century, the “Parque del Retiro” has been used as a venue for various international exhibitions. Several emblematic buildings have remained as testimony to such events, including the Minig building, popularly known as the Velázquez Palace (1884) by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, and the Palacio de Cristal (“Crystal Palace”), a glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London, undoubtedly the gardens’ most extraordinary building.

Built along with its artificial pond in 1887 by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco for the Philippine Islands Exhibitions, it was first used to display flower species indigenous to the islands. The landscape-style gardens located in the former “Campo Grande” are also a reminder of the international exhibitions that have taken place here in the past.

The Paseo de la Argentina, also popularly known as Paseo de las Estatuas (“Statue Walk”), is decorated with some of the statues of kings from the Royal Palace, sculpted between 1750 and 1753. There are now art galleries in the Crystal Palace, Palacio de Velázquez, and Casa de Vacas.

In the Retiro Park is also the Forest of the Departed (Bosque de los Ausentes), a memorial monument to commemorate the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks.

Activities

From late May through early October, every Sunday at midday, the Banda Sinfónica de Madrid gives free concerts from the bandstand in the park near the Calle d’Alcala. Manuel Lillo Torregrosa composed ‘Kiosko del Retiro’ to this bandstand. The Park also features an annual Book Fair.

Around the lake, Retiro Pond, many puppet shows perform, and all manner of street performers and fortune tellers. Rowboats can be rented to paddle about the Estanque, and horse-drawn carriages are available.

Many local families spend their Sunday afternoons here, renting a horse-drawn carriage or paddling a rowboat in the pond. But it wasn’t always this democratic, as in the 17th century only the royal family was allowed to use it privately, hosting pageants, bullfights, and mock naval battles. Only a century later did it open to the public, but even then visitors had to be formally dressed to enter.

Tourist Accommodation Near the Retiro Park-

• Hotels

• Apartments & Aparthotels

• Hostals (small hotels) & Youth Hostels

 A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid’s premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.

The Plaza Mayor was built during the Habsburg period and is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few Spanish blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta Del Sol.

As you walk down Calle Mayor from Puerta Del Sol towards the Royal Palace, you might think Read the rest of this entry »

Plaza de España (or “Spain Square” in English) is one of Madrid’s largest and most popular squares of tourist destination, located in central Madrid, Spain, at the western end of the beautiful Gran Vía. It is one of Madrid’s busiest streets. It features a large fountain and famous monument to honoring the Spanish writer Miguel de Read the rest of this entry »

Madrid is well-known for the variety and character of its districts. They each have an individual identity and lifestyle that cannot be found anywhere else in the city. However, there are certain places that are a must-see in Madrid.We have selected 5 must-see places in the city; Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Palace of Madrid (also known as the Palacio de Oriente) is the official residence of Juan Carlos I , King of Spain. It is considered the largest royal palace in Western Europe in terms of area, with 135,000 m² and more than 3418 rooms. It houses a valuable historical and artistic heritage, among which is the Palatine Stradivarius quintet, the world’s largest collection of these instruments, as well as very important collections of other artistic disciplines.

El Palacio de Real is really a suburb of Madrid and is on the way to the airport, only about 10 km from the city. This palace used to be Franco’s residence for 35 years until his death in 1975 and is still surrounded by a large military base.

History

The palace was built originally as a hunting pavilion in the 15th century on a piece of land that spreads 80 square kilometers (31 square miles). In the 16th century Carlos I ordered to refurbish the oldest of the buildings. Carlos III ordered to make the palace bigger and spent from January through March here hunting and living here with his family (he had 12 children, all with the same queen).

Its construction began in 1738, according to architect’s plans Filippo Juvara, significantly modified by his pupil Juan Bautista Sachetti. Juvara was inspired by Bernini’s unrealized project for the Palais du Louvre in 1665. This background made the general arrangement of the volumes as well as the configuration of the building as a function of not only royal residence, but also courteous to all their different needs, while taking into account the administrative facilities.

Francesco Sabatini, who was the architect of Palacio Real in Madrid and many other royal palaces, used the older part of the building as a base, and built a replica of the courtyard on the other side of the building, so now there is the courtyard of the Habsburgs that is the courtyard that you enter the building through, and the courtyard of the Bourbons, the replica of the first, on the opposite site.

It was the habitual residence of the kings of Spain until 1931. It continue to be held the main receptions, official events and ceremonies of state, while the private residence of the royal family’s Zarzuela Palace, where the current kings settled after their marriage in 1962 to give King Juan Carlos I to live at the Royal Palace. Charles III was the first monarch to continuously inhabited the palace.

The last monarch who lived in the palace of Alfonso XIII was continuous, although Manuel Azana, president of the Second Republic, also dwelt on it, making it the last head of state who did. During that period was known as the National Palace. There is still a room next to the Royal Chapel, which is known by the name of “Dispatch Azaña.” Another of the names used to refer to the building is the Palacio de Oriente, this name comes from the square which bears one of the balconies of the palace, the Plaza de Oriente, which is also the Teatro Real.

Inside the Palace

Its exterior walls consist of two parts: a base pad at the base and above it, provides a two-story upper body with a series of giant Tuscan pilasters at the center as well as the salient angles of the four facades, pillars composite order, the building is topped with a cornice and balustrade. In the main facade (south side), 130 meters long by 33 tall, extends an open space that forms the Plaza de Armas, similar to the burning castle. The palace has a total of 870 windows and 240 balconies that open onto walls and patio.

Located on the main floor of the palace’s south side, between the Throne Room and the Hall of Gasparini. Its considerable size and its three windows and balconies that directly overlook the Armory Square, made this stay one of the most important quarter of the King Carlos III.

In fact, this was “part where the king ate,” and as this act was important for the court ceremonial, the parlor had to be extended at the expense of a small adjoining room. In the early 1760′s, Carlos III commissioned to design and stucco Italian painter Matthias Gasparini, along with the adjoining antechamber and the famous hall of the southwest tower.

Gasparini completed work on the walls hung tapestries of the series of David, Solomon and Absalom, which were woven at the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid. Little remains of its original design, as during the reign of Charles IV and his son Ferdinand VII were introduced decorative neoclassical style empire.Only preserved stucco decorations in place in 1763 Juan Bautista Andreoli, as instructed by Francisco Sabatini, and ceiling frescoes painted by Antonio Rafael Mengs (1728-1779) with the representation-driven to the temple of immortality their virtues and military victories.

The Palacio Real’s outhouses

The palace outbuildings and annexes include the recently refurbished Armeria Real (Royal Armoury), a huge room full of guns, swords and armour, with curh curiosities as the suit of ammour worn by Carlos V in his equestrian portrait by Titian in the Prado.

Especially fascinating are the complete sets of armour, with all the original spare parts and gadgets for making adjustments. There is also an eighteenth-century Farmacia, a curious mixture of alchemist’s den and laboratory, whose walls are lined with jars labelled for various remedies.The Biblioteca Real (Royal Library) can now only be visited by prior arrangement for research purposes.

The gardens of Palacio Real

Immediately north of the palace, the Jardines, Sabatini provide a shady retreat and venue for summer concerts, while to the rear the larger, and far more beautiful, park of the Campo del Moro (April-Sept Mon-Sat 10arn-8pm, Sun 9am-8pm; Oct-March Mon-Sat 70am-6pm, Sun 9am-6pm; occasional closed for state visits; access only from the far west side off the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto) affords shady walks and a splendid view of the western facade of the palace.

Since the times of Ferdinand VII this palace was the official residence of Spanish kings, because it was close to the city and well guarded by the military (still is).

You can get here by bus #601 from Moncloa or by car. If you go by car, go along Gran Via through Plaza de Espana in the direction of A-6 (A Coruna), go through the arch on Moncloa, follow M-30 to the exit to El Pardo, after the exit follow the signs. You will pass Zarzuela, La Quinta, and keep going until you see the sign for the Palacio Real. If you know where you are going, it will take you 20 minutes, if you don’t but just follow the signs, it will take you 30 minutes. But don’t worry, you won’t get lost.

The palace has only guided tours, and if you want an English-speaking guide, you may have to wait. Nowadays heads of state from foreign countries stay here when they come to Spain for official visits.

The Alcázar of Segovia, like many fortifications in Spain, started off as an Arab fort, but little of that structure remains. The Alcázar of Segovia (literally, Segovia Castle) is a stone fortification, located in the old city of Segovia, Spain. Rising out on a rocky crag above the confluence of the rivers Eresma and Read the rest of this entry »

The Alcázar of Seville (Spanish “Reales Alcázares de Sevilla” or “Royal Alcazars of Seville”) is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, originally a Moorish fort.

The Almohades were the first to build a palace, which was called Al-Muwarak, Read the rest of this entry »