THE Royal Palace and THE cathedral of the almudena

The Royal Palace is a 2000-room building that the King Phillip IV commissioned to prominent Italian architects to build at the same place where the first Arabian fort "Alcázar" was built. The Palace was the royal residence from its origins, and remained that way until the deposition of Alfonso XIII. His successor and current King of Spain , King Juan Carlos, resides outside of the city, and the Palace is now only used for official events.

Among the chambers that are open to the public, we recommend that you visit the huge Banquet chamber, the Porcelain Room with its beautifully decorated walls and ceilings, the royal hall where the Throne and royal seats are located, and the Room Gasparini. In front of the Palace you should visit the Plaza de la Armería that precedes the entrance to the Palace and where the guard change takes place.

Adjacent to the Palace lays the Cathedral of our Lady of Almudena. Its construction started about a century ago, and was not consecrated until the nineties. The church contains the relics of Saint Isidro, and was chosen by the heir to the Spanish throne for his marriage in 2004.

MONASTERIES OF THE "ENCARNACION" AND OF THE "DESCALZAS"

These monasteries are both located in the oldest part of the city and were built at around the same time. The Monastery of the "Encarnación" (Incarnation) is very close to the Royal Palace , and the Monastery of the "Descalzas" (bare feet) is near the Puerta Del Sol.

The Monastery of the Incarnation was created in the sixteen hundreds as an Augustinian convent ordered by Phillip the 3rd. The building was built during the Madrilean Baroque and inside there is a Chamber of Relics, where the blood of Saint Pantaleo is kept. Founded by Jeanne of Austria in the building where she was born, the Monastery of the "Descalzas" attracted mostly the religious ladies of the Royal House and of noble families that arrived at the convent with the works of art of their property. Today, the art collection of the convent is remarkable.

church of saint isidro and other

Madrid counts with a large number of beautiful churches. We have selected a small number that we believe are the most prominent.

The church of Saint Isidro was Madrid 's cathedral for over a hundred years, but it was substituted by the new Cathedral of Almudena. The Church still keeps part of the relics of the Saint.

The recently restored church of Saint Francis the Great is located in the south western part of the city and features part of the work of Goya. In the north west of Madrid lies the Church of Saint Mark , a national monument since 1944. Half way between the two churches, there is the Basilica of Saint Michael, constructed in Italian baroque style.