Palacio de Gaviria

Manuel Gaviria, a prominent Spanish banker in the 19th century, hired an Italian architect to create this Renaissance-style palace. Gaviria famous as one of the paramours of Queen Isabel II, outfitted his palace with the ornate jumble of neoclassical and baroque styles that later became known as Isabelino.

In 1993 the building was opened to the public. Ten high-ceilinged rooms function as richly decorated, multipurpose areas for guests.

The palace - known now as El Palacio Gaviria or Palacio de Gaviria - is very close to Joy Eslava and it is one of the hot spots of the night in Madrid. A really different place to party. The bad news is that you have to pay to get in although if you can meet any of the PR that offer discount tickets on the street you can get a good deal (the ticket includes a drink). 

On Thursday night Palacio Gaviria celebrates an international night.

Web Site:

www.palaciogaviria.com

Address:

Arenal 9, Madrid

Open hours:

Monday to Friday from 9pm to 3am
Saturday and Sunday from 9pm to 5am.

Price:

Cover 8€-15€ ($10-$19), including 1st drink

The Royal Palace (El Palacio Real)

The Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid or Palacio de Oriente) is the official residence of the King of Spain. However His Majesty King Juan Carlos I does not actually reside there but in the smaller Palacio de la Zarzuela, on the outskirts of Madrid. The last of the monarchs to use the building as a regular home was Alfonso XIII and his wife Victoria Eugenia. The Palacio Real is still used for state occasions.

The palace is the largest royal palace in Western Europe with over a combined area of over 135,000 m² and more than 2,800 rooms.

The site of the palace dates from a 10th-century fortress, called Mayrit or Magerit, constructed as an outpost by Mohammed I, Emir of Córdoba. After Madrid fell to Alfonso VI, king of Castile and Leon, in 1085, the fortress was only rarely used by the kings. In 1329, King Alfonso XI called the Cortes in Madrid for the first time.

Carlos I (Emperor Carlos V) and his son, Felipe II, turned the building into a permanent home for the Spanish royal family. The Antiguo Alcázar ("Old Castle") burned on Christmas Eve, 1734; King Felipe V ordered a new palace built on the same location. The entire complex was built with stone and brick vaulting, without any wood, so that no future fire could destroy it.

Construction spanned the years 1738 to 1755 and followed a Berniniesque design by Filippo Juvarra and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in cooperation with Ventura Rodríguez, Francesco Sabatini, and Scirmento. The new palace was occupied by Carlos III in 1764. His successors, Carlos IV (responsible for the creation of the Hall of Mirrors) and Fernando VII, added many decorative details and furnishings, such as clocks, items of furniture and chandeliers.

The palace is richly decorated by artists such as Velázquez, Tiepolo, Mengs, Gasparini, Juan de Flandes, Caravaggio or Goya among others.

The Royal Armoury is kept in the palace with weapons dating back to the 13th century. It also keeps the world's only complete Stradivarius string quintet, as well as collections of tapestry, porcelain, furniture, and other objets d'art of great historical importance.

Below the palace, to the west, are the gardens of the Campo del Moro. To the east is the Plaza de Oriente and the Teatro Real (the operahouse of Madrid). To the south is a vast square, the Plaza de la Armas, surrounded by narrow wings of the palace, and further the Catedral de la Almudena. To the north are the Jardines de Sabatini (Sabatini Gardens).


The palace is open to the public and it is closed when used for state functions.

Transportation: Ópera metro station.

picture wikipedia.org

Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns / Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales

The Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales was placed where was an old palace. The same one where Carlos I and Isabel de Portugal lived and where their daughter Juana was born in 1535.

When Juana became a widow, after the death of her husband the prince of Portugal, she founded, in 1557, the convent that became one of the richest in Europe.

Juana is buried there (she died in 1611), in a chapel with a sculpture by Pompeyo Leoni. In the convent lived too the sister of Juana, María the Empress-widow.

Sponsored link: Descalzas Reales/ Royal Barefoot: El Legado De La Toscana

Address: Plaza de las Descalzas Reales, s/n Madrid 28013, Spain

Tel: 34-914-548-800

Fax: 34-915-426-947

• http://www.patrimonionacional.es/descreal/descreal...


• info@patrimonionacional.es

Plaza de Ramales (Madrid de los Austrias)

copyright pbc

Lately Plaza de Ramales has became quite famous. Diego de Velázquez y Silva, painter of king Felipe IV, was buried in the church of San Juan Bautista. The church was placed in this square and the recent construction of a public parking lot underneath it allowed to discover its ruins.

However the mortal remains of the painter and his wife weren´t discovered during the construction.

The location is very close to plaza de Oriente and the Royal Palace.

Plaza de la Villa (Madrid de los Austrias)