Madrid may not have a great river that crosses the city, as it happens in capitals like Rome or Paris, but it does have 125 hectares of central park, thanks to El Retiro. Since July 25, 2021 it has been recognized, along with the Paseo del Prado, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was originally created as a rest and recreation area for Philip IV in the seventeenth century, but the era of splendor of the Buen Retiro came with Ferdinand VII, when the park was replanted and the Casa de Fieras, the Real Embarcadero and the Jardín de Caprichos or Reservado were built, of which some buildings remain, such as the Artificial Mountain and the Casita del Pescador (Fisherman’s House).
During the War of Independence it suffered several damages, since it was used as a fortress and barracks by the French. During the 19th century it was used for some of the international exhibitions held in the city, for which the Palacio de Velázquez and the Palacio de Cristal were built. And since 1935 it has been a Historical Artistic Garden for public use by the citizens and one of the few green spaces in the center of Madrid.
Fountain of the Fallen Angel
They say that the statue of the Fallen Angel is, curiously, 666 meters above sea level. Also, that, if we see it from the sky in zenithal plane, we could trace a five-pointed star (or a pentagon) with each of them being a different path of El Retiro.
What we can say with certainty is that it is a beautiful work of Ricardo Bellver, an artist who, inspired by John Milton ‘sParadise Lost , got down to work to sculpt this piece in which Luzbel (Satan), trapped by a choleric snake, falls to the ground without being able to use his wings.
And remember: if you want to take a closer look, there is a replica that you can visit at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.
Florida Park
There is a very famous video in which Lola Flores, carried away by the passion of her performance, shakes her head from side to side making something fly towards the audience. It was her famous earring: “I dropped a gold earring; I can’t lose it, you are going to give it back to me, it cost me a lot of work“. They say that this earring, lost in 1977, was found in 2019 in the middle of the renovation of Florida Park, when workers came across the jewel under a tile.
This is just one of the fantastic anecdotes that took place in Florida Park, a place through which passed from Tina Turner to Ava Gardner, from Luis Miguel Dominguín to Raffaella Carrà. Oh, if the walls of Florida Park could speak.
This building was born in the early nineteenth century from the hands of Ferdinand VII, who had a “whim” built here, one of those buildings that served for the enjoyment and recreation of the most privileged, under the name of “the smuggler’s house“. Years later, it was reconverted into a spa, one in which meetings, snacks, parties… So, very Madrid style, why not turn it into a restaurant?
Thus was born the Viena Park in 1925, which ended up becoming Florida Parque after the Civil War. The jarana has been its essence ever since. And that is why today it hosts the most outlandish parties in the city.
Eugenio Trías Municipal Public Library
Fernando VII, in addition to his whims, inaugurated in these gardens of the Buen Retiro the so-called Casa de Fieras. A zoo in the fashion of the time in which the pure scientific interest was mixed with the spectacle and that ended up moving in 1972 to the Casa de Campo. Inside there were tigers, hyenas, a jackal, a panther, monkeys, African gazelles… as well as stuffed animals. Since 2013, however, its interior has housed books, wisdom and study rooms in the so-called Eugenio Trías Municipal Public Library ( in honor of the Barcelona philosopher).
Crystal Palace
It is, along with the pond, one of the most visited and well-known spots in the park. Last year alone, nearly one and a half million people passed through its gates. Not to mention the many who, without gaining access, posed from outside to keep in their cell phones a nice souvenir of this glass building built in 1887 for the Philippine Islands Exposition held that same year.
It is the work of architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco and is inspired by the Crystal Palace that had been erected in London several decades earlier. Currently, it serves as a temporary exhibition center of the Reina Sofia Museum. A space where nature, classicism and modern art go hand in hand.
The ahuehuete
An ahuehuete is a type of tree of Mexican origin. In fact, it has been considered a national symbol of the country for more than a century. But… What is so special about this tree in a park of this size, where if there is anything, it is trees? Very simple. The ahuehuete of El Retiro is considered the oldest tree of El Retiro and perhaps of the entire city of Madrid.
Although there is no consensus about its age, the most supported theory is that it dates back to 1632, which would mean that this immense tree would have about four centuries. Almost nothing! 400 years of Madrid’s history that have been engraved in the rings of its trunk as if it were an encyclopedia. This unique ahuehuete (or grandfather, for that matter) has survived the French occupation, popular revolts, a civil war, and even Filomena. And it still has a long way to go, as there are trees of its variety that are more than 2,000 years old.
Statue of Juana I of Castile
The sculpture in tribute to Juana I of Castile is the most recent addition to the Paseo de las Estatuas o los Reyes (officially, the Paseo de Argentina): it was installed in April 2022 and placed on the only pedestal of the promenade that remained empty, along with the 13 kings that complete it. It is a work of the artist Iría Groba Martín, made of limestone, and measures 2.75 meters high.
The Madrid City Council then justified the tribute “to this monarch unjustly treated by historiography as Juana la Loca who, however, was the sovereign with the longest reign in the time of modern Spanish history”.
The big pond
We are not discovering anything to anyone by talking about the large pond of El Retiro, but it would be unforgivable not to do so considering that it is one of the most iconic enclaves of the park, inside and outside the borders of the region. Presided over by the imposing monument to Alfonso XII, in its waters you can usually see groups of people strolling in boats and even competitions of other boats such as yachts.
During the summer it is usually an enclave where cultural activities are organized, such as free open-air concerts.
The water wheel
It is possible that many people do not know that in El Retiro there was an old water wheel from the 17th century and that, since the summer of 2021, a reproduction of that same water wheel can be seen working uninterruptedly. The artifact was discovered in the area known as the Huerto del Francés, during archaeological excavations that took place between 1996 and 2000, and was part of a network of waterwheels that supplied water to the park.
Due to its poor state of preservation, the Madrid City Council decided to replace it with an exact copy of the wooden waterwheel, respecting both its design and original measurements.
Velázquez Palace
The Velázquez Palace is near the Crystal Palace and is one of the exhibition venues of the Reina Sofía Museum. This historicist building built in 1883 takes its name from the architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco. For the tiles that decorate the entire facade were commissioned to ceramist Daniel Zuloaga. It was conceived as the main pavilion of the International Exhibition of Mining, Metallurgical Arts, Ceramics, Glassware and Mineral Waters of 1883, following the model that Joseph Paxton established in the Crystal Palace in London in 1851.
The Rose Garden at El Retiro
The Rose Garden of El Retiro is one of the most romantic places in Madrid, especially between May and June, months of splendor of the 4000 rose bushes that occupy the flowerbeds.
The mayor of Madrid in 1915, Carlos Prats, wanted a more sophisticated space and commissioned Cecilio Rodriguez, Jardinero Mayor de la Villa, to design this garden, in imitation of those of other European cities. Previously, there was a pond here that used to freeze in winter and was used as a skating rink by the people of Madrid.
Cecilio Rodriguez Gardens
The Jardines de Cecilio Rodríguez, located in the southeastern part of El Retiro, take their name from the gardener we refer to just above who also designed this space years later (in 1940). The recognition of his work, in addition to his mastery, is also due to the fact that he dedicated himself to it from the age of 8 to 88.
This is an enclosed garden within the enclosure itself, so before visiting it you should consult the park’s opening hours, which may vary.
El Parterre and El Casón del Buen Retiro
On the west side of El Retiro we find the Parterre, a rectangular garden that forms an axis between the Fuente de la Alcachofa and the Casón del Buen Retiro. The layout of this area of the park is based on the gardens of French Baroque palaces. The perfect lines that trace their paths, the symmetrically pruned hedges and the drawings created with flowers take us directly to Versailles (on a small scale).
The door of Felipe IV connects El Parterre with El Casón del Buen Retiro, a building that was part of the Buen Retiro Palace and currently houses the Library and Study Center of the Prado Museum. This building dating from the mid-fifteenth century hides inside one of the most beautiful frescoes of the capital painted by Luca Giordano in what was once the Ballroom of the palace. Nowadays, the library can be visited free of charge, being also one of the best collections of books specialized in art in Spain, with more than 150 thousand copies.
The Music Kiosk
The kiosk or pavilion of El Retiro is one of the few remnants of what at the beginning of the 20th century was the recreational area of the park, whose access was paid. From 1905 to the present time this pavilion has witnessed hundreds of open-air concerts, growing the space dedicated to the public simultaneously with the city. Nowadays there are no longer only shows of bands and orchestras but we can also find even salsa or swing classes.
Popular libraries
The shelving -the bookshelves- are made of brick and ceramic and have been in the park for a hundred years. There are no bookshelves in parks, but there are in Madrid’s most famous park. The term that defines the functionality of the popular libraries is bookcrossing: you take a book, read it and deposit it in the same place or in a different one.
They have a community utility and their use and history dates back to the decade between 1926 and 1936. Before the Civil War there were as many as six brick bookshelves scattered throughout the city. Now only two remain. One in the Jardines de Herrero Palacios -former Casa de Fieras- and another near the fountain of the Fallen Angel.
Egyptian fountain
The tripona, the fat one, the canopa or the fountain of Osiris (without Osiris). Everyone gives it the name they want. The reason for these names with a certain slang lies in the figure that attracts attention: a funerary vessel (or canopy: urn to store viscera in the ancient Egyptian culture) crowned by the head of an Egyptian God.
The main peculiarity of the Egyptian fountain of El Retiro is what it lacks more than what it has. The Egyptian fountain was crowned by a replica of Osiris, who presided over a podium that today no one occupies. And now an association intends to recover it.
Monument to Alfonso XII
The equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII that presides over the emblematic lake of El Retiro contains a cabin from which you can see the park in 360º. The sculpture was the work of Mariano Benlliure, author of some of the pieces that adorn the facade of the iconic Metropolis building or the statue of Quevedo in the traffic circle to which it gives its name.
A sculpture that is framed in a whole framework and has the shape of a semicircular colonnade of 86 meters.
This article has been written by Alberto del Castillo, María F. Carballo, Isabel Nieto, Javi Bisbal, Miguel Sánchez and Elena Francés.