Madrid may not have a large river running through the city, as is the case in capitals such as Rome or Paris, but it does have 125 hectares of centrally located parkland, thanks to the Retiro. As of July 25, 2021, it will be recognized, along with the Paseo del Prado, as a UNESCO World Heritage.
Originally it was 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 Fernando 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 suffers 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 Historic Artistic Garden for public use and one of the few green spaces in the center of Madrid.
Fallen Angel Fountain
They say that the statue of the Fallen Angel is, curiously, 666 meters above sea level. Also, if we see it from the sky in zenithal plane, we could draw a five-pointed star (or a pentagon), each of them being a different path of the Retreat.
What we can say with certainty is that it is a beautiful work of Ricardo Bellver, an artist who, inspired by Paradise Lost by John Milton, got down to work to sculpt this piece in which Luzbel (Satan), trapped by a choleric serpent, 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 Real Academia de Bellas Artes de 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 this earring, lost in 1977, found in 2019 in the middle of renovation work at Florida Park, when the workers came across the jewel under a tile.
This is just one of the fantastic anecdotes that took place in Florida Park, a place where Tina Turner to Ava Gardner, from Luis Miguel Dominguín to Raffaella Carrà passed through. Oh, if only the walls of Florida Park could talk.
This building was built at the beginning of the 19th century by Fernando 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 Vienna Park was born in 1925, which eventually became Florida Park after the Civil War. The jarana is its essence since then. And that is why today it hosts the most bizarre parties in the city, such as that Bingo for ladies by Lorena Castell which never fails to sell out, or the various night parties that are better not to talk about: you have to experience them.
Eugenio Trias 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 pure scientific interest was mixed with spectacle and that ended up moving in 1972 to the Casa de Campo. Inside 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 Biblioteca Pública Municipal Eugenio Trías ( in honor of the Barcelona philosopher).
Crystal Palace
It is, together with the pond, one of the most visited and well-known points of the park. Last year alone, nearly 1.5 million people passed through its doors. 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 on the occasion of 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 (and this is why we know the number of visitors it received in 2022), it serves as a temporary exhibition center of the Reina Sofía 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. El ahuehuete del Retiro is considered the oldest tree in the Retiro and perhaps in the entire city of Madrid.
Although there is no consensus around its age, the most supported theory is that it dates back to 1632, which would mean that this immense sapling would be about four centuries old. almost nothing! 400 years of Madrid’s history have been engraved in the rings of its trunk as if it were an encyclopedia. This unique ahuehuete (or abuelete, 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 homage to Juana I of Castile is the most recent addition to the Paseo de las Estatuas o los Reyes (officially, the promenade of Argentina): it was installed in April 2022 and was 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 revealing anything to anyone by talking about the large pond of the 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 riding the boats and even competitions of other boats such as the yolas.
During the summer it is usually an enclave where cultural activities are organized, such as free outdoor concerts.
The water wheel
Many people may not know that in El Retiro there was an old waterwheel from the 17th century and that, since the summer of 2021, a reproduction of that same waterwheel can be seen running uninterruptedly. The artifact was discovered in the area known as the Frenchman’s Orchard, 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.
Velazquez Palace
The Palacio de Velázquez is near the Palacio de Cristal and is one of the exhibition venues for the Reina Sofia Museum. This historicist building built in 1883 is named after the architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco. Ceramist Daniel Zuloaga was commissioned to design the tiles that decorate the entire façade. It was conceived as the main pavilion for the 1883 International Exhibition of Mining, Metallurgical Arts, Ceramics, Glassware and Mineral Waters, following the model that Joseph Paxton established at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851.
The Rose Garden of 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 locals.
Cecilio Rodriguez Gardens
The Cecilio Rodriguez Gardens, located in the southeast zone of El Retiro, take their name from the gardener mentioned 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 grounds itself, so before visiting you should consult the park’s opening hours, which may vary.
El Parterre and El Casón del Buen Retiro
On the west side of the 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 tracing its paths, the symmetrically pruned hedges and the patterns 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 middle of the 15th century hides in its interior one of the most important the most beautiful frescoes in the capital painted by Luca Giordano in what was once the palace’s Ballroom. At present, the library can be visited free of charge, and it is also one of the best collections of specialized art books in Spain, with more than 150,000 copies.
Madrid a Tempo: Casa de Vacas Cultural Center
The cultural space Madrid a Tempo, also known as the Casa de Vacas, is a building located a few meters from the ticket to the park’s pier. Although it currently houses two exhibition halls and a theater with a capacity for 150 people, this building was from its construction in 1874 until the beginning of the 20th century a dairy where freshly milked milk was sold.
The offer of this Cultural Center is diverse and includes plays (both for children and adults), book presentations and exhibitions of contemporary artists. The outdoor terrace, where it is common to see skateboarders practicing tricks, is also used today as an exhibition space for monumental sculptural works such as those of Victor Ochoa or Manuel Pereda.
The Music Kiosk
The kiosk or pavilion of the Retiro is one of the few remnants of what at the beginning of the 20th century was the recreation area of the park, whose access was paid. From 1905 to the present, 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 band and orchestra shows but we can also find salsa or swingclasses.
Popular libraries
The shelving – the shelves – are brick and ceramic and have been in the park for a hundred years. There are no shelves in parks, but there are in Madrid’s most famous park. The term that defines the functionality of popular libraries is bookcrosing: you pick up a book, read it and deposit it in the same or a different place.
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 shelves scattered throughout the city. Now there are only two left. 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 entrails in the ancient Egyptian culture) crowned by the head of an Egyptian God.
The main peculiarity of the Egyptian fountain in the Retiro is what it lacks rather than what it has. The Egyptian fountain was crowned by a replica of Osiris, which presided over a podium that no one occupies today. 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 the 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 Metrópolis building or the statue of Quevedo in the traffic circle to which it gives its name.
A sculpture that is framed in a whole lattice and has the shape of a semicircular colonnade of 86 meters.
This article was written with twelve hands by Alberto del Castillo, María F. Carballo, Isabel Nieto, Javi Bisbal, Miguel Sanchez y Elena French.