The origins of Madrid's Royal Palace o Palacio de Oriente, as it is also known, date back to the 9th century, the emir Mohamed I He built a citadel to defend Toledo from the advance of the Christians, in the same place where we see the palace today. Its privileged location on the river Manzanares and the existing slope that acted as a natural barrier were key to choosing this location. After taking Mayrit, for the king Alfonso VI in the year 1083, it would be used by the kings of Castile, until years later, in the XNUMXth century, the Real Alcazar. Juan II, Carlos V y Felipe II, they embellished it, Philip II converted it into the official residence of the kings of Spain in 1561. It was splendidly decorated by Philip II and Philip IV for whose task he employed Velázquez, but it suffered a tragic fire that completely destroyed it on Christmas Eve 1734.

Philip V, the first of the Bourbons, was the promoter of the construction works of the new palace. He wanted it to be the amazement and envy of the other European courts. He decided that the Palace would occupy the same place as the destroyed Alcázar, commissioning the architect, the Italian Felipe Juvara, that the entire construction was made of stone (white from the Madrid town of Colmenar and gray berroquena from the Sierra de Guadarrama) and brick, without wood that could become food for the flames again. Juvara dies soon, and is his disciple John Baptist Sachetti, who is in charge of finalizing the plans for the construction of the Palacio de Oriente. Other architects, such as Ventura Rodríguez (the Royal Chapel) or Francesco Sabati (the main staircase), would also participate in the construction of the Palace.

The works began in 1738, and the works continued until 1755. Philip V, who died on July 9, 1746, could not live in the Palace. It would be his son, Carlos III, the first Spanish monarch to establish his residence in the Palacio de Oriente in 1764.

The highlight of the complex are its four facades, inspired by the drawings that Bernini made for the Louvre Palace in Paris. On the top floor, a balustrade made of white stone finishes the cornice where the statues of the kings of all those monarchies related to the history of Spain were to be placed, statues that are currently distributed throughout the Retiro Park, the plaza of the East and also other cities in Spain (Vitoria, Pamplona, ​​El Ferrol). 108 large sculptures, representing the monarchs of the different kingdoms related to the Spanish monarchy: America, Portugal, Castile, Aragon, Galicia, Navarra, as well as the kings of Spain from Isabel y Fernando, Catholic kings.

For today we stay here, there is a lot to tell, not in vain The Palace has about 2.800 rooms, Armory, Chapel, Library, Tunnels, Gardens, Painting Collections, too much for a single day. It can be visited and is free to visit. It is also open on Mondays, the usual closing day for museums, so there are usually queues. We will return another day with our 365 days in Madrid with more stories about the Palace, its changing of the guard, the flagpoles and their meaning, or what the tunnels communicated...

A abrazo.