El Retiro is without a doubt the paThe Bicycle Retreatrque in Madrid, it is not the largest, there would be doubts as to whether it is the most beautiful, but it is the Madrid Park, a place that you cannot miss in this city.

With 118 hectares, a little less than Hyde Park in London and a third of Central Park in New York is home to more than 15.000 trees, El Retiro Park is a green island in the center of Madrid. But it is a garden that hides other gardens inside: the Vivaces garden, the gardens of Cecilio Rodríguez, the gardens of the Architect Herrero Palacios, the Rose Garden and the French Parterre with the Bald Cypress, which is said to be the oldest tree. from Madrid.
El Retiro is used by many people every day to walk, skate, ride a bicycle, run, run, yes, if we ask the runners they will be able to tell us what the perimeter of El Retiro is: 4,5 kilometers that many use as a training area. training.

The gardens have their origin between the years 1630 and 1640, when the Count-Duke of Olivares, King of Philip IV, gave him some land gifted by the Duke of Fernán Núñez. For more than two centuries it was the exclusive use and enjoyment of the monarchy, but, after the revolution of 1868, it became part of the city, and therefore of all citizens.
El Retiro is also culture. Among its most important architectural and historical elements are: the Big Pond where you can practice rowing, the Velázquez Palace and the Crystal Palace, both currently used as exhibition halls. The Crystal Palace, a romantic pavilion created to accommodate an exhibition of exotic plants at the Philippine Exposition of 1887, is one of the main examples of iron architecture in Spain and one of the few structures of this type that remain. in Madrid.

If we wanted to list the sculptures present, we would have to fill several chapters of this series, but we will talk about some of them another day.

It is a space for sports, leisure and also for cinema. El Retiro is a frequent setting in many films that are shot in Madrid and one of our obligatory stops on our Madrid Film Bike Tour.
Now all you have to do is enjoy it, El Retiro awaits you all year round. Remember that it has schedules:

From October to April: from 7:00 a.m. to 22:00 p.m. 
From May to September: from 7:00 a.m. to midnight.

A abrazo.