Royal Palace

The Royal Palace in Madrid is the official residence of the kings of Spain. Located in the western part of Madrid. King Juan Carlos I, however, did not live in the palace and visited it only on occasions of official ceremonies.nAt the site of the palace in the Middle Ages was the Moorish fortress of the emirs of Cordoba and Toledo. Later, the Alcazar of Habsburg was built here, destroyed during a terrible fire on Christmas night 1734. The grandson of Louis XIV, Philip V, the first Bourbon to ascend the Spanish throne after the death of Charles II, at the end of the war for the throne (1700-1714) against Archduke Charles of Austria wished to have a large palace in Madrid, similar to Versailles, built by decree of his grandfather.nOn the advice of his wife and great art connoisseur, Isabella Farnese, in 1735, Philip V calls on the Italian architect Filippo Juvarra and gives him an order. However, after the death of Juvarra, another Italian, Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, completes the project in the Italian Baroque style. He designs a rectangular building with a central courtyard and uses granite from the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains and limestone from Colmenara for its construction. In the last stages, Italian Francesco Sabatini also acted as the construction manager.nThe construction of the palace began in 1738 and was completed in 1764, during the reign of Charles III, who first settled in it. However, its interior design continued for quite some time. Since the palace is built on a hill on the banks of the Manzanares River, huge walls and stepped platforms with internal ceilings that extend from the west to the river itself, where the Campo del Moro park with dense thickets of trees, paths and fountains such as “ Triton “and” Shells “. The park was founded in the 19th century, and today it houses the Museum of Carriages, which contains carriages, two-wheeled carts, a landau, ceremonial carriages and carriages belonging to the Spanish kings from the 16th century, as well as saddles and carpets.nOn the north side, near Bailen Street, stretch the upper Sabatini gardens, planted in 1933 on the site of the former stables. The main entrance is located on the south facade, overlooking Arms Square, where the first guard of the guard is held every first Wednesday of the month and through which the king and queen enter in an old carriage during receptions arranged to present credentials by new ambassadors.