Yesterday marked the first 100 days of 365 days in Madrid. It has been intense work but we have passed a milestone, thank you very much for the encouragement, comments and recommendations. We still need some more, there is still a lot of 2015 ahead of us.
Today, like every Saturday, we will talk about a park. One of the hidden gardens of Madrid, the Queen's Casino, next to the Embajadores roundabout.

The Real Casino de la Reina was located between the current streets of Embajadores, Ronda de Toledo, Ribera de Curtidores and Casino. What was the main entrance, in the current Ronda de Toledo, was in the same place where the Search, which at that time, still surrounded the town of Madrid. Corresponding to the section from Puerta de Toledo to Portillo de Embajadores, at the roundabout of the same name.

Very close to this place there was an orchard, called Huerta de Bayo, which since the 17th century was property of the monks of San Cayetano.

With the arrival of the French, in 1808, the orchard passed into the hands of a minister of Joseph Bonaparte, Manuel Romero. Becoming known as the Huerta de Romero. He built a palace-house, joined the different levels that were very sloping and added a geometric garden with fountains, trellises and pergolas.

Behind the War of independence, and with the return of Ferdinand VII, the orchard was acquired by the City Council, and in 1817 donated to Queen Doña Isabella of Braganza, second wife of Ferdinand VII. From that moment on, the farm was called Queen's Casino. The name Casino comes from the name given to certain country houses in Italy.

Isabel de Braganza continued with the improvements, but died shortly after. Ferdinand VII continued the works, and so did his daughter Isabel II. They commissioned the creation of the Royal Site to the best artists of the time, architects such as Antonio Lopez Aguado y Narciso Pascual and Colomer, the sculptor Jose Tomas and the painter Vicente Lopez. They transformed the geometric gardens into landscape gardens, with curved walks, ornamental elements and “whims”, which received many compliments at the time. We can observe them in the detailed plane of the General Ibáñez of Ibero.
The mansion was renovated and expanded although it was a very simple, two-story building.
There are period engravings that show us what the buildings were like, the palace with its access staircase, a pier inside a small temple with columns and a dome from which an estuary started that ended in an artificial grotto. Several wooden bridges allowed you to cross the estuary and enjoy the landscape.
Fountains, sculptures, a ferris wheel, the pond, all the elements of the romantic garden.
In 1867 Isabel II donated the estate to the state, some of the works of art were taken to the Museo del Prado, where they can still be seen today.
Also in the Prado we can enjoy the sculpture of Felipe II, the work of Pompeo Leoni in collaboration with his father Lion.
That same year the Archaeological Museum For this purpose, the Casino de la Reina palace was renovated, however that marked the beginning of the destruction of the Royal Site.
The Archaeological Museum abandoned the Casino at the end of the 19th century. At that time the Veterinary School. A new headquarters was built by Francisco Jareño, in neo-Mudejar style. Another day we will refer to it in 365 days in Madrid. It has been the Cervantes Secondary Education Institute since 1960.
These works took away many elements of great value. Only some remains and trees remain.
The spectacular entrance door, Lopez Aguado It is preserved, although not in its original location and we can continue enjoying it, however its granite pillars were transferred to the RetiroToday we see them in the Independence Gate, in front of the Puerta de Alcalá.
Although we can say that there was an exchange, at the beginning of the 20th century, when the City Council sold the Gardens of the Buen Retiro in the Plaza de Cibeles to the State to build the Communications palace (which curiously, today is the headquarters of the Town Hall), the fence that surrounded them was dismantled and moved to the Casino de la Reina.
The deterioration continued and different uses followed, in 2001 the new Day Center was inaugurated, with a modern design. The mansion was rehabilitated again, now it is the Social Integration Center of the City Council.
Madrid has recovered it as a public space, the new Parque Casino de la Reina, little known, hidden behind the original gates of the Retiro, an island in the middle of Lavapies. It's nice to see how the park comes alive, full of children, people walking their dogs, enjoying the hidden garden.
One of our visits in bike route through the hidden gardens of Madrid.