Most people do not have the privilege of living in a palace or castle surrounded by private stately gardens in which they can stroll, so today we wanted to prepare, for our friends and clients of De Salas, a tour of two of the best parks with history created in their day for Felipe IV, located in one of the best areas of the center of Madrid and where you can walk through all its corners and hiding places like the king himself. Come on?
On this occasion we can say that one of the many advantages of having one of the De Salas offices located in the Salamanca neighborhood, specifically at Serrano 45, allows us to be just a step away from two of the most spectacular parks in our city. On the one hand, the Buen Retiro Park and on the other, the Quinta de la Fuente del Berro Park, and we delve into them to learn all their secrets, taking advantage of the arrival of good weather.
Buen Retiro Park
Popularly known as Retiro Park, this park is considered one of the main tourist attractions of the city of Madrid, among other things because of the multitude of architectural and landscape figures ranging from 17th century to 21st century. It is protected as A Cultural, as a historic garden and since July 2021 it has been declared Heritage of humanity by unesco.
Construction began in the first half of the 1630th century, in 10, and was completed 1868 years later in what was an old property of the Count, Duke of Olivares, for the enjoyment of King Philip IV, but fortunately Charles III allowed the public to enter for many years. later, until XNUMX when it came under the ownership of the Madrid City Council, thanks to which all citizens can enjoy it today.
It is considered one of the lungs of Madrid, as well as a place that offers leisure, culture and sports to its visitors.
We highlight some of the architectural and historical elements of Retiro Park such as the Crystal Palace, big pond where you can take a romantic boat ride, the Monument to Alfonso XII, french parterre which has the oldest tree in Madrid, which is estimated to be about 400 years old, the Royal Astronomical Observatory, door of Philip IV, the artichoke fountain y the hermitages of San Pelayo and San Isidoro, which are of Romanesque origin.
Some of the most visited statues in Retiro Park are that of Fallen Angel, which is the only sculpture in the world that represents the devil, the water wheel, source of the Galapagos or el Forest of Remembrance created as a tribute to the victims of March 11.
Furthermore, within the park there are some classicist gardens with an Andalusian air, such as the Vivaces Garden y the gardens of Cecilio RodrĂguez, the gardens of the architect Herrero Palacios, and the Rose Garden which has the “tree of happiness”.
They also highlight the Fisherman's House and the reopened, after two decades closed, Cat Mountain, one of the most iconic places in the park, which owes its name to the fact that in the past it was a common space for feline colonies, and which, together with the Smuggler's House, now host the leisure and hospitality multi-space, Florida Park,.
And from Retiro Park we move to the Quinta de la Fuente del Berro Park located in the Salamanca neighborhood. Another park located on the grounds was the Quinta de Miraflores, commissioned by Felipe 4 as a new Royal Site and dating back to the 17th century.
This park covers an area of ​​13 hectares and offers visitors landscaped gardens, with meadows, rustic stones and a wide variety of trees, such as lime trees, walnuts, ashes, poplars, cypresses, elms, cedars and shrubs such as arbutus and holly. , among many others. It also has a great diversity of birds, among which we highlight the peacocks that live freely and coexist with squirrels.
It was not until 1941 that this place was declared historical artistic garden and in 1948 it was bought by the Madrid City Council who restored it and opened it to the public in 1954 as it is known today.
We highlight in this park the monument to BĂ©cquer, the statue dedicated to the poet Pushkin, numerous fountains, waterfalls and a couple of small ponds, as well as a small palace that is what remains of its palatial past.
The park is divided into 7 zones:
The main access with the Tripona Fountain Garden, the palace gardens, the central or core garden, the so-called water garden, the lower garden that overlooks the M30, the Sainz de Baranda Taludes and the upper Garden that It connects with the Sancho Dávila Park.
In short, 13 more hectares to enjoy nature and green spaces in the heart of the city that make Madrid an irresistible place to live
And that's it for our video today, with which we are sure you will have wanted to walk through these places. We will be back very soon with much more of the De Salas lifestyle.
