The history of the great Madrid park is linked to the capital of Madrid. Its 1722 hectares make Casa de Campo a huge park, full of surprises. Let's briefly review some historical milestones.

Henry III designated the Mount of El Pardo as a Royal Residence at the end of the 14th century due to its abundant game. Hunting seems to have always been one of the hobbies of the Spanish monarchy; the wealth of Monte del Pardo influenced the subsequent designation of Madrid as capital, a century and a half later.

The nobles residing in Madrid had consolidated their power and prestige by purchasing land around the city. A family, the Vargas, an ancient noble lineage from medieval Madrid, acquired, on the right bank of the Manzanares River, a town with orchards and land that reached Carabanchel and where the current town is included. Casa de Campo.

The decision Felipe II moving the Court to Madrid and residing there, is a key moment. The king acquires the Vargas House and designs a large estate to unite his Palace with the hunting ground of The brown.

Time passes and the Bourbons, the new dynasty, arrive in Spain and introduce many changes to the Casa de Campo, and especially after the construction of the Royal Palace The interest of the monarchy in that Casa de Campo, so close, increases.

Philip V, introduced the fashions and customs of the French court, in 1720 the gardens were remodeled, which still preserved the Spanish parterre style from the primitive designs of Jerome of Algora, which are replaced by French-style broderies. His son Fernando, while still an infant, provided what is possibly the largest expansion of the Casa de Campo, acquiring more than a thousand hectares to the north and west (at the price of one and a half million reales de vellón) which quintuples the extension of the enclosure. As king, Ferdinand VI declares the Casa de Campo Bosque Real and conditions it for hunting use.

His brother Carlos III, chose to increase the productivity of the Casa de Campo during his reign, introducing new crops and irrigation systems. In 1773, the king commissioned a project to transform the entire complex from the architect Francesco Sabati, who built in 1782 the Culebra Bridge as part of many other works.

Time continues to advance, and some threats could have destroyed our park in 1834, during the regency of María Cristina de Borbón, a project was presented to build a new town, La Real Cristina, in Casa de Campo, luckily for today's Madrid, the project did not prosper. His daughter Isabel II promoted a project to renew the park's trees, which since 1845 has been subject to forest management with scientific criteria, after the Royal Family hired the forestry engineer Agustín Pascual González.

In 1878, a large fire during one of the worst droughts of the 1875th century, called “the four-year drought” (1879-900), destroyed 1013 bushels of land and destroyed XNUMX trees.

La II Republic It arrived on April 14, 1931, very few days later, on April 20, a decree from the Ministry of Finance was approved to transfer royal possession to Madrid City Council. A great gift from the Republic to Madrid. On June 3, 1931, another decree was approved in which the green lung was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument.

It was the Minister of Finance of the Provisional Government, Indalecio Prieto, who presented the Casa de Campo to the people of Madrid, represented by its mayor, Pedro Rico. They say that that day, some 300.000 Madrid residents came to the Casa de Campo to celebrate, it was the first time that the people could enter the premises. Most of the drinking water fountains in the park today were built at that time.

During the Civil War, the Casa de Campo was a war front practically throughout the conflict, and today we can still see remains of trenches and forts inside. In it Garabitas hill, the artillery positions of the rebels who bombed the city daily were in place.

Now that Garabitas hill is a place where runners and cyclists pass (in one of the many bicycle routes through Casa de Campo), the Casa de Campo has given part of its land to the Country Club and houses facilities such as the Zoo, the Amusement Park, the cable car, the Venta del Batán, we can enjoy the first Saturday of each month of a Producers Market where to find greens, vegetables, cheeses, wines...

In short, the Casa de Campo, next to the city, is a leisure space in capital letters, a luxury that is close, accessible and for everyone, those of us who live here and those who visit us. One of our favorite places to do bike routes through Madrid.

For those who want to know it better, we recommend a map of the Casa de Campo made by a great friend.

A abrazo.