I was fortunate to book a room at a hotel next to the
Royal Palace and other historic sites in the downtown area of Madrid. As a result, I had wonderful views of the palace and gardens at varying times throughout the day.
Those who know me, know that I love old architecture that reveals the long histories of its people and culture -- and the
Royal Palace was no exception. Think about all the wars and governments and facility improvements and people associated with this place since the 9th century!
The current palace structure was built in the mid-1700s for
King Phillip V after a fire took the previous building constructed by the Moors. The 18th century architect,
Filippo Juvarra, started with French Baroque, while Neoclassical elements were added throughout its construction over the 18 years it took to complete the palace.
King Alfonso VIII was the last to live in the palace in 1941.
As mentioned, the Spanish royal family is not living in the palace anymore but at another residence on the outskirts of Madrid, allowing tourists to roam about the grounds and rooms without having to adjust to royal schedules. Within the walls of the palace is a courtyard, having the residence at one end and cathedral across from it. It is easy to envision horse drawn carriages rolling through the courtyard dropping off visitors at the palace entrance.
Our guide informed us that palace workers occupied rooms at the top level around the courtyard. The statues that surround -- not only of Spanish royalty but figures from Greek mythology -- were placed along the interior and exterior to emulate other palaces across Europe.
Upon entering the main entrance, one is overwhelmed with the 70 step grand staircase (constructed with Spanish marble and stucco) that leads to numerous rooms used for entertaining visitors. Our tour gave us access to about 20 of these rooms.
The
Royal Palace in Madrid is the largest palace in Europe with over 1 million square feet of interior space across 3,400 rooms... a little bigger than my two bedroom condo in Bangkok =)
It's easy to understand how there can be so many rooms if the king needed a separate
Dressing Room, not to forget the
Dessert Room, Silver Room, Orchestra Room, Bidding-Farewell Room, Private Chapel and the all-important
Porcelain Room clad with porcelain manufactured in Spain. Each room was elegantly decorated with the finest of materials, including tapestries that were easily changed depending on occupants and time of year.
On a personal note, our guide mentioned that some paintings in the palace were painted by my great-great-great-uncle
Anthony VanDyck. Just kidding... there were paintings by
VanDyck but I doubt we were related =) The only room
not dedicated to royalty was a room for
Stradivarius who designed and constructed violins and other stringed instruments. His instruments are currently worth millions of Euros in today's market.
