Tag Archives: Spain

Royal Palace of Madrid

A short stroll across the Plaza de la Armeria takes you from the Almundena Cathedral to the Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid). Looking back toward the cathedral from southeast corner of the palace grounds, just outside the gates to the courtyard, will give you this view of the cathedral:

Almundera Cathedral as viewed from the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is an incredible complex that has been a work in progress for around 1,000 years. The site began as a fortress. Following various military battles and changing of hands, the palace really began to take shape in 1735 after the original structures were destroyed by fire. Today it looks like this:

Royal Palace of Madrid

You can spend quite a while photographing the exterior details:

Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

But you’ll also want to step inside. Above the grand staircase is a magnificent fresco created by Italian Rococo painter Corrado Giaquinto:

Royal Palace of Madrid

Other sights you’ll find inside the Royal Palace of Madrid:

Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

Almudena Cathedral

On day three our travel companions Dolores and Earl Daniels joined us for another trip aboard the Madrid City Tour hop-on/hop-0ff bus, but this time we had a specific destination in mind. Our objective on Day 3 was the Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid) and the Santa María la Real de La Almudena (Almundena Cathedral). These two structures directly face each other with the Plaza de la Armeria running between the two.

Plaza de la Armeria

Construction of Almundena Cathedral began in 1883 and was completed 110 years later. Why so long? Because work on the cathedral was stopped during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and didn’t start up again until 1950.

Almudena Cathedral

We didn’t go inside, but I did spend quite some time photographing the exterior:

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral